Juno to get up-close look at Jupiter's Great Red Spot

Tonight, NASA's Juno spacecraft will fly over Jupiter's Great Red Spot, giving scientists an "up-close and personal" view of the storm which has been raging on the planet's surface for at least 180 years, according to NASA.

Why it matters: This will be Juno's sixth flyby over the planet's clouds; it's expected to be approximately 5,600 miles above the Great Red Spot when it makes its closest pass at 10:06 p.m. ET. Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator of Juno at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, told NASA Juno "will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special."

Six-year journey: Juno was launched in August 2011 and was in Jupiter's orbit for exactly a year as of July 4, logging 71 million miles around the planet.