Space Lovers Tweet Launch of NASA Spacecraft 'Juno'

More than 100 lucky winners will get to watch the launch of the spacecraft "Juno" Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Tweet about it.

NASA's TweetUp event selected 150 people through a lottery system to witness the launch and tell people about it via the popular social media Web site. This is NASA's 23rd TweetUp event.

Juno will head to Jupiter for the next five years, picking up information about the Solar System's largest planet. The last time NASA sent a spacecraft to Jupiter was in 1989. The spacecraft was named Galileo and was sent aboard a space shuttle. Juno is meant to follow up on Galileo's findings, according to NASA's Web site.

Tweeters back on planet Earth will give a unique perspective to the launch.

Ashburn, Va., resident and space enthusiast Todd Palino, 34, is thrilled to have been chosen.

"So many people think that the space program is over now that we're done sending space shuttles, which couldn't be more untrue," he told his hometown paper, Ashburn Today. "There's still so much interesting science going on."

He raved this morning about the speakers. "Today's speaker lineup is even more amazing than yesterday, if that's even possible!" Palino Tweeted Friday morning from his account, @bonkoif.

Dr. Barbara Buckner, a high school science teacher from Tennessee, already has a good start on her Tweeting duties. She can be followed at @bbuckner. she told the Web site Nooga.com.

"Juno is flying on the 2^nd 551 Atlas configuration. This is the 27^th Atlas V vehicle," she Tweeted Friday morning.

The launch will take place on Friday between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm. NASA reported on its website that the weather should be good. They do not foresee any technical issues.