The Juno spacecraft appears to hover over its transporter as it is lifted up the side of the Vertical Integration Facility.

At Space Launch Complex 41, the Juno spacecraft, enclosed in an Atlas payload fairing, appears to hover over its transporter as it is lifted up the side of the Vertical Integration Facility to the top of the Atlas rocket already stacked inside. The spacecraft was prepared for launch in the Astrotech Space Operations' payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla.

The fairing will protect the spacecraft from the impact of aerodynamic pressure and heating during ascent and will be jettisoned once the spacecraft is outside the Earth's atmosphere. Juno is scheduled to launch Aug. 5 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/juno. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston