Jupiter Looms Ahead for Juno

On July 5, 2016, at 03:18 UTC (July 4 at 11:18 p.m. Eastern US time), the Juno spacecraft will ignite its main engine. It will burn for 35 minutes, and when it's done the spacecraft will be doing something a NASA mission hasn't done in many years: It will be orbiting mighty Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar system. Oh my, yes, this is a big deal. Juno's mission is to investigate Jupiter, observing its dynamic atmosphere to determine its composition, temperature, and cloud structure. It wi...