Juno Extended Mission, Perijove 34-76 |
Juno Extended Mission, Perijove 34-76 |
Sep 2 2020, 08:05 PM
Post
#1
|
|
Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3233 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
At today's Outer Planet Assessment Group (OPAG) meeting, Scott Bolton gave a presentation on Juno, providing an update on the mission and providing more information on its extended mission proposal. The proposal has been sent to NASA and they expect a final decision later this year.
The proposed extended mission starts where the current one ends at perijove 34 in June 2021 and continues through orbit 76 in September 2025. The continued northward progression of the perijove latitude, and continued lower altitude of the ascending node, is going to enable a lot of great science both at Jupiter (higher resolution views of Jupiter's poles) and of its satellites. Most excitingly for me, Juno will perform several flybys of the Galilean satellites. This includes a 1000-km encounter with Ganymede next June during PJ34, a 320-km encounter with Europa in late 2022, and TWO Io flybys in early 2024 at an altitude of 1500 km. There are also a number of "Voyager-class" encounters with Ganymede, Europa, and Io between mid-2021 and mid-2025. The PDF for Scott Bolton's presentation can be found on the page for the OPAG meeting: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/meetings/opag2020fall/ -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
|
|
Sep 2 2020, 09:37 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 3233 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 |
And it won't just be eye candy with the Galileans. For example, the Europa encounter will allow for mapping of one hemisphere with the MWR at 100-200 km resolution. That instrument can probe to a depth of 10 km allow for the direct detection of lakes within the Europan ice sheet. The Io encounters will include JunoCAM imaging sure, but also JIRAM mapping of Io's hotspots with resolutions down to 355 m/pixel as well as gravity science and magnetometer measurements, which when combined with future IVO passes, will provide some strong constraints on the state of Io's lower lithosphere and upper asthenosphere.
For Jupiter, with closer passes over the poles, they will be able to do better 3D mapping of the atmosphere below the north polar cyclones as they will be able to do repeated passes over the same part of Jupiter. -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
|
|
Sep 3 2020, 02:19 AM
Post
#3
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 611 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
And it won't just be eye candy with the Galileans. For example, the Europa encounter will allow for mapping of one hemisphere with the MWR at 100-200 km resolution. That instrument can probe to a depth of 10 km allow for the direct detection of lakes within the Europan ice sheet. I would like to see the assumptions that went into that, it seems very doubtful to me. Scattering by fractures, and absorption by contaminants (salts, sulfuric acid..) in Europan ice is such that even the sort of 10 MHz ice penetrating radar on Clipper has a good chance of not penetrating that deep, and the ~1 GHz MWR wavelength being 100 times shorter will sound commensurately less deep. |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 1st June 2024 - 04:54 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |