NASA’s Juno mission to provide clues to evolution of solar sytem

NASA's Juno spacecraft would soon be cruising its way to Jupiter on a mission that is aimed at taking a deep look at the swirling curtain of clouds on it, to find out what lies beneath. With the mission, scientists are hoping to learn more about the formation of the solar system.

The mission is expected to uncover a lot beyond what we already know and could possibly even completely change our present understanding of the development of the solar system.

According to Scott Bolton, the principal investigator for the Juno mission, the special thing about Juno was scientists were really looking at one of the first steps, the earliest time in our solar system's history.

Scientists are curious to know after the sun formed what exactly happened that led to the formation of the planets and why were the planets a slightly different composition than the sun, he said.

The spacecraft is scheduled to lift off at 11:34 am today from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The mission has only a limited launch window to get off earth before Jupiter's orbit takes it out of alignment.

According to mission manager for June, John Calver, Juno had only a 22-day launch window, or else they would be down for another 13 months for the next opportunity.