News release: 2011-245 Aug. 5, 2011 NASA's Juno Spacecraft
Launches to Jupiter The full version of this story with
accompanying images is at: PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's solar-
powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station in Florida at 9:25 a.m. PDT (12:25 p.m. EDT) Friday to
begin a five-year journey to Jupiter. Juno's detailed study of
the largest planet in our solar system will help reveal
Jupiter's origin and evolution. As the archetype of giant gas
planets, Jupiter can help scientists understand the origin of
our solar system and learn more about planetary systems around
other stars. "Today, with the launch of the Juno spacecraft,
NASA began a journey to yet another new frontier," NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden said. "The future of exploration
includes cutting- edge science like this to help us better
understand our solar system and an ever-increasing array of
challenging destinations." After Juno's launch aboard an Atlas V
rocket, mission controllers now await telemetry from