Earth -- as seen by the Juno spacecraft flying by our home planet on October 9, 2013: In this image of Earth taken by JunoCam, you can see observations made during Juno’s Earth flyby gravity assist that was completed earlier this month. Several Juno science instruments made planned observations during the approach to Earth, including the Advanced Stellar Compass, JunoCam and Waves. These observations provided a useful opportunity to test the instruments during a close planetary encounter and ensure that they work as designed. The main goal of the flyby – to give the spacecraft the boost it needed in order to reach Jupiter – was accomplished successfully. The Juno spacecraft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on August 5, 2011 toward Jupiter. Juno’s rocket, the Atlas 551, was only capable of giving Juno enough energy or speed to reach the asteroid belt, at which point the Sun’s gravity pulled Juno back toward the inner solar system. The Earth flyby gravity assist was planned as par...