On
Oct. 9, Juno flew by Earth using the home planet's
gravity to get a boost needed to reach Jupiter. The JunoCam caught this image of
Earth, and other instruments were tested to ensure
they work as designed during a close planetary encounter.
The
Juno spacecraft was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug.
5, 2011. Juno’s rocket, the Atlas 551, was only capable of giving Juno enough
energy or speed to reach the asteroid belt, at which point the Sun’s gravity
pulled Juno back toward the inner solar system. The Earth flyby gravity assist
increases the spacecraft’s speed to put it on course for arrival
at
Jupiter on July 4, 2016.
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