Where is juno launching

Trajectory of Juno from Earth to Jupiter. The spacecraft unfurled its three large solar arrays to power its systems. It completed its first mid-course correction maneuver on Feb. On October 9, , Juno passed within miles of Earth, making its closest approach off the coast of South Africa. After an additional course correction on Feb. On July 4, , after a five-year cruise from Earth, Juno fired its main engine for 35 minutes to enter an elliptical polar orbit around Jupiter with an initial period of 53 days.

During its second close approach on October 19, the spacecraft entered a safe mode due to an anomaly affecting its main engine. Here, the spacecraft is still in its cocoon form, its solar arrays and other components having been tucked away to fit in the rocket. Juno spent two years cruising the inner solar system before arriving at Jupiter.

Explore Interact with the hotspots below to learn more. Test as you fly This browser doesn't support video. The Flight Plan This browser doesn't support video. Juno launched in August and took about five years to travel to Jupiter, first looping around the inner solar system and swinging past Earth to get a boost in its speed that propelled it onward to its destination.

But why not send it directly to Jupiter? NASA's Juno mission is exploring Jupiter from orbit, beaming back amazing photos, atmospheric data and other observations about the largest planet in our solar system. The Juno probe launched Aug. It is the farthest space probe ever to be powered by solar arrays. Learn more about Juno's Jupiter discoveries here. A dazzling new animation puts you aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft during its epic flybys last month of Jupiter and the huge moon Ganymede. NASA's Juno spacecraft has detected new auroral emissions on Jupiter which appear to ripple over the planet's poles.

Juno also directly detected Jupiter's internal magnetic field. This was a landmark finding as it was the first time that an internal magnetic field had ever been detected on any planets beyond Earth.

Juno also has helped scientists to find and study Jupiter's "shallow lightning" and " mushballs " or balls of hail made of melted ammonia-water. In addition to the craft's ongoing discoveries and exploration, it has also collected a plethora of incredible images of the Jovian system. In , the probe took a multitude of images of the planet's iconic Great Red Spot , which gave us here on Earth an incredible, up-close look at something we had seen from far away for so long.

In , NASA extended Juno's mission to keep the probe exploring through September , unless the spacecraft stops functioning sooner.