Anyway enough personal stuff. I wanted to talk today about something that started in August of 2011.
On August 5, 2011 an American Atlas V with a Russian designed RD-180 main engine and five strap on SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters) thundered aloft from Cape Canaveral. The Atlas carried a Centaur second stage up for 4 minutes 26 seconds (266 seconds). The Centaur ignited and burned for about 6 minutes putting a a satellite into a parking orbit. About 30 minutes later the Centaur was re-ignited for a second 9 minute burn. The satellite was now effectively in solar orbit with a aphelion out past the orbit of Mars and a Perihelion inside Earth's orbit.
More than two years later, on October 9, 2013, having achieved aphelion the satellite coasted back towards Earth and using Earth's gravity as a sling-shot the spacecraft shot past our fair planet on a new trajectory towards Jupiter, the spacecraft, Juno, is expected to perform her Jupiter orbit insertion on July 5, 2016 at 0230 UTC, or late in the evening of July 4 for those of us in the Americas. But just before departing Earth forevermore, NASA engineers trained one of Juno's Camera's on her point of origin.
October 9 was a while ago, it was a Wednesday, but if you can remember what you were doing, prepare to feel small. These images were taken as Juno approached the Earth.
