Watch the beautiful launch of Juno, as it rockets away from our planet. This is the beginning of a 5 year journey for Juno, which will see it travel all the way to Jupiter in order to learn more about the origins of our solar system.

Next stop: Jupiter. Last week included one of the few times in history that humanity launched something completely off the Earth, moving away so fast that it will never return. Well, almost — Juno’s planned trajectory actually brings it homeward bound in about two years, zipping by, this time using the Earth’s gravity to pull it to an even higher speed, high enough to reach Jupiter. The above video depicts the launch of Juno aboard a Atlas V rocket. When the robotic Juno spacecraft reaches Jupiter in 2016, it will spend just over a year circling the Solar System’s largest planet, using its unique cadre of instruments to probe the planet, sending back clues of its structure and origin. Then Juno will be instructed to dive into the thick atmosphere of the Jovian giant, taking as much data as it can before it melts. – NASA

Link: Juno Rockets Toward Jupiter

[via photoxels]