NASA spacecraft nears Jupiter rendezvous

LOS ANGELES — 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 voyage to the biggest planet in the solar system.

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

Named after the cloud-piercing wife of the Roman god Jupiter, Juno carries nine instruments to map Jupiter’s interior and study its turbulent atmosphere.

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.