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NASA’s Juno mission to the gas giant Jupiter was launched on August 5, 2011 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) located in Florida. The mission got underway at 1:25 p.m. EDT (16:25 GMT) atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 (number AV-029) rocket – the most powerful version of the launch vehicle that the Colorado-based company has fielded. Built by Lockheed Martin, the spacecraft was launched on behalf of the space agency so as to increase the scientific community’s understanding of Jupiter's composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere. Photos courtesy: Jason Rhian, Carleton Bailie
