Juno Launch Friday on AV029 an Atlas 551

AVo29 note the five SRB's the most powerful Atlas that flies.

NASA is gearing up for the planned launch Friday of the Juno mission to Jupiter after the rollout of a powerful Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. After a five year coast the mission starts in 2016 when Juno whips into a polar orbit, the other spacecraft we've sent to this largest planet in our solar system have been flybys targeting the equator of the planet.  Juno should tell scientists how the planet was formed, and what is the special sauce that goes into making a planet.  That's the objective and you can follow along at home with a live cam on the spacecraft, you may even be asked to select the areas that this cam will photograph in deep space. 


The 197-foot United Launch Alliance rocket and the Juno spacecraft are slated to blast off from Launch Complex 41 at 11:34 a.m. Friday. The 69-minute launch window will extend until 12:43 p.m. This is an Atlas in the 551 configuration with five srb's that will drop off as it lifts off. If the weather causes an issue for the launch we have 22 days that are available to launch in the month of August.  After that it will be two years before another launch window to Jupiter.

"Juno only has a 22-day launch window, or else we're down for another 13 months until our next opportunity," said John Calvert, mission manager for Juno. "So it's those kinds of challenges with making sure you do all the little things necessary to maximize the opportunities you get for those 22 days."
The weather forecast continues to call for a 70-percent chance conditions will be acceptable for flight. Launch managers are keeping close tabs on Tropical Storm Emily, which is weakening as it crosses mountains on Hispaniola. The storm might degrade into a Tropical Wave later today.

However, once out over open water again, Emily is expected to strengthen to Tropical Storm status and could be a Category 1 hurricane by late Saturday or early Sunday. The project path would put the storm over the Atlantic Ocean due east of Cape Canaveral by late Saturday. Sustained local winds of 20 to 25 knots with gusts into the low 30s.

Check out the Official Forecast from the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron.