Make no mistake, today is the beginning of a really cool era for science. There hasn't been an orbiter at the largest planet in our solar system since Galileo kamikazed into it in 2003. We're going to learn a lot about the origin and evolution of this planet, and in turn about the evolution of our own solar system, as well as others. Just as the goddess Juno was able peer through the clouds of her god-husband Jupiter to see his true self, the Juno mission will be able to look beyond planet Jupiter's atmosphere to reveal its secrets.
Late in the evening, at 10:00 PM PDT, NASA will hold a press conference and tell us how the spacecraft is doing. By then they will have received the first telemetry data from Jupiter orbit.
I am not gonna spend a lot of time talking about the mission. Partly because all of the really cool stuff is going to happen after today, but mostly I'd like to let /r/JunoMission's moderator, /u/PhilipTerryGraham, tell you all about it.
1. I grew up first looking a Voyager's photos of Jupiter and its moons, and then in the Galileo era as the spacecraft explored the Jovian system. How does Juno differ from past missions, and what can it tell is that ground based observations can't?
Juno is probably one of the most insane missions ever devised, in my personal opinion. While the Pioneer and Voyager probes flew past at comfortable distances, and Galileo took a typical, yet scenic ecliptic orbit of the planet, Juno will be coming in through a polar trajectory (north to south), and on each of it's 40+ orbits, it will be making daredevil approaches as close as 4,600km above the cloud tops - the closest any surviving spacecraft has and probably ever will come to the planet for a long time yet. Galileo averaged closest approaches of 600,000km during its mission, and the closest flyby previously was 34,000km, achieved by Pioneer 11 in 1974 in order to propel itself into
a radical, cross-system trajectory towards Saturn.
From this awesome vantage point, Juno will be having a closer look at the planet than any other spacecraft has had before, going head-first into Jupiter's inner magnetosphere, and barely scraping the planet's upper atmosphere. Juno has many scientific instruments aboard its payload that take advantage of this vantage point, making observations of Jupiter's aurora and magnetic field, distribution of mass, heat distribution and chemical composition, among many other things. There observations would be near-impossible from distances travelled by the likes of Galileo and Voyager, let alone ground-based observations.
2. One of Juno's primary missions is to determine how Jupiter formed. How will this help us to understand the origin of our solar system, and will it help us understand the formation of exotic expolanets?
I'm not one to comment reliably on this, since, I myself, am not a planetary scientist, but I can say this about what I know - Jupiter plays a huge role in the solar system today. Its capacity to influence objects and events in the solar system, such as the trajectories of smaller bodies, or the capture and/or destruction of smaller bodies, make it a titan-weight in the planetary system we live in. Naturally, figuring out the history fo this particular planet, and how it came to be, could tells us many things about what the early solar system was like, and how the early Jupiter influenced such a system. Results taken from Juno data could also be applied to formation and evolution models of other planetary systems.
3. What is the most important scientific impact that you believe that Juno will have and why?
The biggest scientific impact that Juno will have is to simply demonstrate that a mission like Juno can succeed; that science in daring environments will yeild important and groundbreaking results if executed correctly, and that community involvement in interplanetary science will ultimately benefit the advancement of interplanetary spaceflight and the science that is made form such community-driven missions.
4. Aside from Juno, what has been your favorite deep space mission? (and why)
Cassini is unrivaled, in my opinion. In its 12 years at Saturn (and counting!), it has unveiled entire worlds of mystique and awe. It ripped off the veil on Titan and showed us a complex world that not only mirrors our own, but gives us the best look yet at the nature of protoplanets and the evolution of terrestrial bodies. At Enceladus, Cassini turned the science of astrobiology on its head after its iconic discovery of not only geysers at its south pole, but also a global underwater ocean, complete with a hydrothermal vent system that is now pinned by the SETI movement as the most likely habitat of extraterrestrial life in the solar system. In addition to that, Cassini has also provided some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring images ever taken in interplanetary spaceflight. If you have time to spare, sift through the Cassini category on NASA's Photojournal website. They're literally thousands of images there, and they're all pretty high-quality stuff!
5. What should people not expect from Juno?
I think the mission team has repeated this enough times, but I think its worth repeating again - do not expect any substantial science regarding Jupiter's moons, especially Europa. Juno's mission is solely focused on Jupiter itself, and, due to the spacecraft's polar trajectory design, a close flyby of any of the moons will not occur. The best Juno will do is to take pictures with JunoCam from a distance, when they pop into JunoCam's field of view.
6. How important is unmanned robotic exploration of the solar system? What future missions would you like to see?
It's indisputable that robotic exploration of the solar system is important for the human race as a whole. Space is the final frontier for our species, and conquering our own solar system requires us to observe, study, and understand our solar system. Our robotic emissaries assist us immensely in this particular endeavour, since we don't have to risk life or limb in the name of science and exploration. We currently have, as we speak, 7 spacecraft active at Mars, with 1 en route and 1 on the ground ready to be launched. These particular spacecraft help us in the endeavour of conquering Mars, which has been seen as the next stepping stone for humanity for the longest time. Missions like Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Cassini and New Horizons are the foundations for the stepping stones after Mars - conquering the rest of the solar system.
As for what I'd like to see happen in the near future, I'd like to see more missions like Dawn and NEAR Shoemaker - emissaries to the asteroid belt and Near-Earth objects (NEOs). It'd be wise for humanity to start a fully-fledged reconnaissance of these peculiar objects in the solar system, not only because of their importance in understanding the history and evolution of the Solar System, but as potential resources for humanity to use. I'd also imagine exceptional asteroids, such as the metallic 16 Psyche, would be rather photogenic.
What about a future mission to the outer solar system or your lifetime?
I've always have had a love affair with the Neptune and it's system - especially Triton. Scientists and astronomers have been operating under the safe assumption that Triton is a captured Kupier Belt Object (KBO), and for the longest time was touted as an example of what we should expect from KBOs, but with New Horizons, we saw that the ultimate KBO, Pluto, was far removed from our expectations. So, it'd be interesting to study Triton and see how such an object came to be, what seasons are like on Triton, and to execute an in-depth study of the nature of Triton's iconic geysers, and what the moon's interior geology is like.
Neptune itself, its ring system and host of minor moons are also a great source of interest. It'd be great to study what kind of role Neptune plays in respect to the Kuiper Belt, and how much of an influence it has. It is also, in my personal opinion, a pretty photogenic object; it is most certainly the prettiest of the ice giants, and its hectic atmosphere makes from some beautiful looking wisps of clouds, such as this wonderful photograph by Voyager 2. It would also be cool to better understand how a wild atmosphere like Neptune, where winds rage constantly at 2,156km/h (1,340mph), and storm systems such as the "Great Dark Spot" can form, dominate, and disappear within a decade, came to be and how it can, well, exist.
7. Tell us how you got interested in this mission and about your inspiration for creating /r/junomission.
I had always been an avid follower of spaceflight since I was a kid - I am, by definition, a space geek. I learned about the Juno mission when I was in sixth grade, in 2010, and a year later I found myself staying up until about 2 in the morning to watch it launch atop the majestic Atlas V. Juno really captures my imagination because of how daring and unique its mission is, compared to the typical reconnaissance missions of the 20th and early 21st centuries. r/junomission came about through a common-sense trail of thought. Juno's mission, especially JunoCam, is an open invitation by NASA and the JPL for amateur astronomers to get involved in a historic interplanetary mission. I thought it'd be a good idea to assist this by creating a community on reddit, and thus the subreddit was born!
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