
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Backdropped by the Atlantic Ocean and surrounded by its four-tower lightning protection system, NASA's Juno planetary probe, enclosed in its payload fairing, is seconds away from liftoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Leaving from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the spacecraft will embark on a five-year journey to Jupiter. On the right, water is seen dumping into a flame trench to suppress vibrations at launch. Liftoff was at 12:25 p.m. EDT Aug. 5. The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/juno. Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray and Tim Powers
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NASA ID
KSC-2011-6296
Date Created
August 5, 2011
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Location
Cape Canaveral, FL
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