NASA is gearing up to send an "armored tank" spacecraft called Juno to
Jupiter this month, after several delays and reschedulings. The environment that Juno is to face will be one of the most treacherous any spacecraft has ever endured -- so Juno has all sorts of special features, such as a radiation vault, a protective shield to protect it from Jupiter's insanely radiation-heavy environs. An invisible force field surrounds Jupiter (a less powerful one also surrounds our own planet) which is heavy with high energy particles to shield it from highly charged particles which shoot off the sun. The mission will result in Juno orbiting Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, for 15 months. Scientists have also devised a route that should shelter the craft from spending extended periods of time in the harshest zones. Juno's trip will also be the first ever
solar powered mission to Jupiter.
posted August 9th 2010 7:27AM
This is hot!
@bhoffa
That invisible force field is called a geomagnetic field.
@samisax yeah no kidding. Please don't try and mystify science, Engadget...
@bhoffa
I wanna go to the great red spot.
@samisax Doesn't geo means Earth so it cannot be geomagnetic field in the case of Jupiter? :)
Maybe jovian-magnetic field?
@cile1977
You sir, are correct.
@bhoffa
But... can you hold it in your left hand???
Sorry... couldn't resist it :)
Is it the iPad killer?
No but seriously I love this stuff. Can't wait to hear if it works.
Why is this in alt!? WTF is alt!? Engadget, cut the crap and quit fracturing your sites!
@Lee IV It's not fracturing so much as it is intelligent categorization which makes it easy for those who only keep up with this site for mainstream tech to easily distinguish that from that which is not geared toward consumers.
So chill--it's not like those extra mouse clicks ruined your day is it? You still saw this posted on the engadget front page, yes?
I presume they have done their research but that thing does not look like it can withstand the insanity that is jupiters gravity and storms etc.
Be awesome if it works tho
@dagetz
I'm sure NASA's army of experienced engineers and PhDs will take your simple visual "analysis" into account immediately.
@paul34 oh for godsake get a life dude i was just saying that it doesnt LOOK like its strong enough. I wasn't for a second suggesting that it wasn't.
@dagetz Oh, but you did. Dumbass....
Jupiter's gravity is so strong that has metallic hydrogen!!
@Geez93
What? How? Gas would compress to liquid wouldn't it?
@Apple Google Microsoft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter
just look under internal structure has something to do with the pressure caused by the gravity and it is like very lightweight to perfect transport material!
@Geez93
Actually, the strong magnetic field is CAUSED by the fast moving currents of metallic hydrogen.
Those Jovians will cower at our feet. Bwahaha.
This is so cool but a waste of money the million they spend on this machine we could use for other important thing like fixing new orleans helping the poor in the usa
@ZIXTO
Using that kind of reasoning, very few advances in modern society would have ever taken place -- or at least not nearly on the time frame they did. I'd argue in the long term that hurts the poor even more.
@ZIXTO
Your argument is invalid. Why? The miliatry spending is more than half of the budget. NASA's portion iss extremely tiny of the pie. NASA always deliver the bang for your bucks. So please stop being sympathic and tell the military to go easy with their spending.
@ZIXTO
But if it works out, we can send the New Orleanians to jupiter..... Minus the deadly gas, intense gravity and all that jazz!
NASA, you always make me come. Like I came! -cough- Solar-powered at Jupiter? I CAME. Armored? I CAME. Radiation Shield? I CAME. Launching soon? I CAME.
@wsansewjs
NASA sent an armored probe and I JIZZED IN MY PANTS
Will NASA communicate with this spacecraft on a hamburger phone?
I am really wondering how its gonna avoid jupiter's immense gravitational field.
@pichupintos Its no trick, you simply have to increase your orbital velocity the closer you get to stay in orbit. Being that it's going to be going pretty darn fast to get there, it'll do a gravity capture and likely slow itself down via some manner of thruster to fall into a steady orbit.
@pichupintos
chuck norris will be sent with the spacecraft =)
@mayhem121
as such we will find Jupiter orbiting Chuck Norris, problem solved
Minor typo but it is bugging me:
"An invisible force field surrounds Jupiter...which is heavy with high energy particles *to* shield it from highly charged particles which shoot off the sun."
(asterisks mine)
The "to" should be "which". If it is "to", as written, it implies the field around Jupiter was *intended* to shield it from charged particles, i.e. god or someone designed the force field for that purpose. A suggestion I'm assuming Engadget isn't intending to make. Switching the "to" with a "which" corrects it.
It isn't launching this month. It's launching in August 2011. Still a year to go.
They should build an elevetor that could bring stuff out in to space. Than the price would go down in cost to bring stuff out to space. :) NASA think/do things faster....
@wwwandrey They're trying, scientists have been for over a hundred years now, but building an elevator that needs to be over 38,000 km high is no easy feat...
Every year brings us a little bit closer from turning that dream to reality!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator
ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE.
@nebj00la
Great reference! Unfortunately though, Europa has long been one of the most highly prioritised scientific targets in space exploration, so I guess it's only a matter of time before Earth is obliterated by featureless, black monoliths..
@f314 Don't come crying to me when they land in your back yard!
This is a poorly worded post. It makes it sound like Jupiter an orbital platform with a startrek style shield designed to fend off the Sun.
Not trying to be rude but why word it that way?
@yomachaser As Indefinite Implosion pointed out, NASA worded it that way, not Engadget. Laura was simply copying them. Check the source link if you don't believe us.
@yomachaser
Because... Jupiter an orbital platform with a Star Trek style shield designed to fend off the Sun.
CONSPIRACY THEORY.
Soon it will be JOVIAN powered once they light up that sucker with monoliths!
Did Apple design the antenna? I could only imagine what the "death grip" would look like on this thing... Grab here, put your foot there....
Note that Juno is currently scheduled to launch August of 2011, not this month.