Hello, John and Doves,Can you say, "Missed it by that much..."?I hope we can say that after Juno passes by Earth today, Wednesday, 9 October 2013.Did I read that article right?"...Launched in 2011, the Juno spacecraft zipped past the orbit of Mars and fired its engines to put it on course for a momentum-gathering flyby of Earth. During the maneuver, Juno will briefly pass into Earth's shadow and emerge over India's east coast. At closest approach, Juno will fly within 350 miles of the Earth's surface, passing over the ocean off the coast of South Africa shortly before 12:30 p.m.
The rendezvous was designed to bump Juno's speed from 78,000 mph relative to the sun to 87,000 mph — enough power to cruise beyond the asteroid belt toward its destination.
During the gravity assist, the spacecraft's JunoCam, a wide-angle color camera, will snap pictures of the Earth and moon. Weather permitting, skywatchers in India and South Africa with binoculars or a small telescope may see Juno streak across the sky. Ham radio operators around the globe were encouraged to say "hi" in Morse code — a message that may be detected by one of the spacecraft's instruments...."
~Blessings,Mike