Suggested Searches

APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Chasing Juno

Explanation: Wait for me! In 2011, NASA's robotic mission Juno launched for Jupiter from Cape Canaveral , Florida , USA . Last week, Juno reached Jupiter and fired internal rockets to become only the second spacecraft to orbit our Solar System's largest planet. Juno , tasked with studying the jovian giant over the next two years, is in a highly elliptical orbit that will next bringing it near Jupiter's cloud tops in late August. Of course, the three-year-old pictured was not able to catch up to the launching rocket . Today, however, five years later, he is eight-years-old and still chasing rockets -- in that now he wants to be an astronaut .

Date July 12, 2016
Credit Image Credit & Copyright: Melissa Christine Kendall
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.