Nasa's Juno lifts off to spy on Jupiter
The solar powered spacecraft has a successful launch to begin its five-year $1.1bn mission to the solar system's largest planetNasa's Juno mission to Jupiter successfully launched on Friday on a five-year journey to the solar system's largest and oldest planet.Hundreds of scientists and their families and friends watched from just a few miles away, cheering and yelling, "Go Juno!", as the spacecraft soared into a clear midday sky atop an unmanned rocket."It's fantastic!" said Dr Fran Bagenal, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who is part of the project. "Just great to see the thing lift off."It was the first step in Juno's 1.7bn-mile (2.7bn km) voyage to the gas giant Jupiter, just two planets away but altogether different from Earth and next-door neighbour Mars.Juno is solar powered, a first for a spacecraft meant to roam so far from the sun. It has three huge solar...
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