Journey to Jupiter: NASA spacecraft nears planet rendezvous

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jupiter takes center stage with the arrival next week of a NASA spacecraft built to peek through its thick, swirling clouds and map the planet from the inside out.

The solar-powered Juno spacecraft is on the final leg of a five-year, 1.8 billion-mile (2.8 billion-kilometer) voyage to the biggest planet in the solar system.

The engine burn — lasting about a half hour — is designed to put Juno on a path that loops over Jupiter's poles.

Since it takes 48 minutes for radio signals from Jupiter to reach Earth, mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory won't be able to intervene if something goes awry.

Only Galileo — named for the Italian astronomer who discovered Jupiter's large moons — orbited the massive planet and even released a probe.

After its launch on Aug. 5, 2011, Juno took a roundabout journey to Jupiter, swinging around the inner solar system and using Earth as a gravity boost to the outer solar system.

The Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft have returned stunning pictures of Jupiter, including a new photo released Thursday of its northern lights.

The fiery finale — expected in 2018 — ensures that the spacecraft doesn't accidentally crash into Jupiter's moons, particularly the icy moon Europa, a prime target for future missions.