The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has picked Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services of Littleton, Colo., for the Juno mission to Jupiter.
The $190 million contract includes launch services for an Atlas V model 551 rocket, payload processing, launch vehicle integration and associated tracking, data and telemetry support. The spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in August 2011 on an interplanetary trajectory to Jupiter.
Juno is to arrive at Jupiter in August 2016. Using remote sensing and gravity measurements, the spacecraft will characterize Jupiter's interior, atmosphere and polar magnetosphere with the primary science goal of understanding the planet's origin and evolution.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
