Comments on: It's Official: Juno is Going to Jupiter

By: Jiries

Jiries — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:00:46 +0000

Why they are worried about contamination on jupiter's moons?

By: redcloud

redcloud — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:38:01 +0000

Most importantly, where does this leave the Outer Planet Flagship? I guess that on its way to Titan and the Saturn system, right? I know OPF is still quite a few years in the future, but I don't see NASA sending two missions in a row to Jupiter – even if Juno is a New Horizons class mission and OPF is a full international collaboration (NASA, ESA, JAXA… maybe even the russians?). Pity. Yeah, I'm all for Europa and Ganymede… and some nice views of Io and Calisto to boot.

By: Karthikeyan Subbiyan

Karthikeyan Subbiyan — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:55:30 +0000

Alright,
What it means 'JUNO'

By: astrofiend

astrofiend — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:24:57 +0000

mr obvious – thanks for mentioning that neocon catchphrase of catchphrases 'national security'. It allows me to more conveniently ignore your opinion.

By: MIKE

MIKE — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:42:58 +0000

Or perhaps they axed Europa cuz they were told to stay away in 2001; A Space Odyssey.
Maybe Obamas administration will refocus NASA and not just 'talk the talk'

By: MIKE

MIKE — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:39:16 +0000

For those alive at the time,the Apollo program
not only brougth new tech to our lifes,
unfortunately got taken for granted over time,
but in a time of world turmoil for a weeks time
brought the world together Apollo XI and XIII
are great examples Think what a mission to Mars would do and not machines which we aren't but living, breathing humans . As the comercial says, PRICELESS!!!!

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:02:22 +0000

I agree with Silver Thread.

We need to have something around every planet all the time. At this point there is no reason not to. So much to learn and do, but we continue to waste our time and money

By: Mr. Obvious

Mr. Obvious — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:17:28 +0000

You bet… spectral displays and pretty pictures of gas should always stand before national security. Especially since we only have about 11 active probe missions right now and 6 on the way in the next few years.

By: Sakib

Sakib — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:14:22 +0000

I'm actually glad that theres a new probe for Jupiter. Yes we've been there before but there is so much more to learn. Finding out about the history of Jupiter will reveal more about the formation of solar systems. Hell if it weren't for Jupiter, we'de probably got squished by a comet or something. Doesn't anyone remember the amazing pictures and the amazing discoveries that Cassini made about Saturn.
Ever since I was a kid I always fantasized about a mission to Europa but I can wait if it means discovering more about the king of the solar system.

By: Catalina

Catalina — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:08:32 +0000

I love beautiful images, but we need more to interest the public. I don't think the majority of society really understands the importance of investigating our universe, not to mention its just cool. On the flipside, I'm always worried that by giving people hope that they can move to Mars it'll kill any hope of fixing the damage we've done to our planet.

And there are so many things we could do with a fraction of the defense budget, not just space and science. But I don't see that changing a lot despite predictions that the US's hegemony is waning.

By: Conic

Conic — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:36:23 +0000

Would a Europa orbiter be too much to ask? With a crash landing probe…

By: Jorge

Jorge — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:54:08 +0000

I wrote:

Jeff, probably not. I guess they'd go for the extended mission(s), since under solar power the probe would not be limited in fuel.

Ouch! This one hurt. It's wrong on so many levels.

OK, with a working brain now:

Probably not right away. They'd go for the extended mission(s), I guess, because under solar power the probe wouldn't be limited in time as far as energy generation is concerned. Radioisotopes have a limited (although long) duration; solar power is unlimited. However, it would be limited in fuel for attitude control and orbit changes, so ultimately it would probably end up suffering the same fate as Gallileo, in order to avoid the possibility of contaminating Europa.

Phew. I should learn not to comment here while I'm sleepy.

By: maudyfish

maudyfish — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:26:02 +0000

The nice thing about going to Jupiter, is that almost all the exoplanets that have been found are very similar to it. Perhaps if we learn more about this planet it will help us understand the others.

On the same hand, it is very sad that more programs are not available for Mars and any moons that seem likely for some type of life. Considering the good news we just received about Mars we are missing out on taking this opportunity for advancement.

By: marcellus

marcellus — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:25:44 +0000

Here's to Mike! (Raise your glass, folks.)

And let's drink a toast to an orbiter around every planet in the solar system. (Just think about how much time you could spend in front of your computer on a cloudy night with THAT a reality!)

By: Dark Gnat

Dark Gnat — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:50:09 +0000

Yeah, pure science is for nerds. We need pretty pictures for new desktop wallpapers.

By: Sid

Sid — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:58:57 +0000

If you want to study Jupiter, Europa seems a pretty good place to do it from. If I could choose any single location for a probe – it would be Europa

By: Same Old Stuff

Same Old Stuff — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:53:55 +0000

The article says nothing about studying the moons of Jupiter. Pure science (studying Jupiter) is fine, but it doesn't spark public interest. The public will see a bunch of photos and think that's all they're getting for their public funds. NASA needs to concentrate on landers and look at worlds where colonization will be possible in the future. It's the only thing that will interest the public in the long run: a permanent human presence on another world (not the ISS).

By: Freddy Yu

Freddy Yu — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:49:07 +0000

Any mission excites me, but it does feel like we're just redoing Galileo again.

A lander or something to Europa is long overdue.

By: Kevin F.

Kevin F. — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:59:38 +0000

Yes, but what's it going to do? Bombard it with energy and examine the bounceback? Take pictures? HOW is it going to study Jupiter?

(Full supporter, just want to know)

By: Silver Thread

Silver Thread — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:30:49 +0000

There isn't a good reason why we don't have an ACTIVE orbiter operating around EVERY planet in this solar System, and several of the bigger moons as well. If we sent up one probe for every dozen military satellites the amount of data we could collect would be…astronomical…

More over, if the WORLD came to see that the United States was focusing on the stars, rather than making war, the rest of the earth's population would very likely jump on board pretty damn quick. Space Travel isn't an impulse found only in countries with a space program. It resides in the hearts and minds of anyone that has ever seen the night sky and wondered.

By: Don Alexander

Don Alexander — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:28:49 +0000

Hot damn! This is great news.

On the other hand, I'm still depressed about JIMO getting axed. It was a revolutionary mission concept and would have been the greatest payload ever flown.

Also, can someone please invent a better propulsion system?? I'm not very patient by nature and these years it takes just to get from one planet to another…

@LLDIAZ: Are you including links in your posts? That might be the problem.

By: bse5150

bse5150 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:38:15 +0000

Why in heaven's name are we axing the Europa project? There seems to be someone in control up there in budget land who slashes any project that might have the potential to find life in favor of the ELECTRON COUNTING CLOUDCOVER MONITORING DEVICE FOR PLUTO or some other nonsense that no one besides a handful of academics really understands. Look for life on Mars? Nah, we axed that too in favor of the PHOTON GATHERING DARK ENERGY MEASURING DEVICE that will take 14 years to reach an orbit around asteroid X17B5E and send a whopping 32 minutes of data back home. I say junk the entire space program and give it to the billionaires and multimillionaires who are the people who will not only make a profit on it, but find cool things to do as well as answer the big questions we all have such as, 'Is there life on Mars, Europa, Enceladus or Titan?'
You people can call me bitter all you want, but the fact is that a majority of space science projects that run taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a piece, deliver scientific data that is understood by less than 1000 people on this entire planet and subsequently has no practical use whatsoever.
There's less and less money to go around these days, let's not blow it on silly stuff.

By: Jorge

Jorge — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:22:47 +0000

Jeff, probably not. I guess they'd go for the extended mission(s), since under solar power the probe would not be limited in fuel.

By: LLDIAZ

LLDIAZ — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:16:42 +0000

Can I ask why you guys keep erasing my comments?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:07:07 +0000

Whats going to happen after it's been around 32 times? Suffer the same fate as Gallileo?