Fixerger
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Yes, the only way Juno will have enough energy to make it to Jupiter is to use Earth's gravity to slingshot it. Juno will break some speed records after that too.So it's still in a low-energy orbit compared to Jupiter's and will only reach it's final dV after the Earth fly-by. Right?
#6 - "JUNO" is simple 4-letter word, easily remembered by the masses. It is also a tough-sounding name.
Er... maybe.
For years whenever I've read "Juno", I think of this film. :uhh:
I'd say this is better than farting around in low earth orbit. Especially now that the shuttle is gone.
Also, today, disseminating science results and pictures is far less costly and more pervasive. So everyone can see the results and pretty pictures right away.
And with a manned mission, there seems to be a lot of compromises, a lot of funding and resources are dedicated to plumbing and whatnot. With unmanned missions, the vehicle and science instruments are effectively freed from the limitations of man.
What would be the value of sending a manned mission to Jupiter? What would he do when he got there? Pull out a Cap'n Crunch telescope and look for monoliths?
What is the value of sending an unmanned mission to Jupiter?
Which one is going to return more science? And which one will be more reliable, safe, and cost-effective? And what about the radiation there? The unmanned probe can stay there for a year. How long a manned mission? Hours? Days? Forget it!
For now you cannot, I repeat you cannot, beat the value and science return of unmanned probes. Folks, this is real space exploration!
Folks, this is real space exploration!
And what about the radiation there? The unmanned probe can stay there for a year. How long a manned mission? Hours? Days? Forget it!
When I see a child dressed up as a space probe, then I will accept unmanned missions into the class of "real space exploration".
Also, of course it makes no sense to send a manned mission to take pictures and magnetic field readings. Why do you think all satellites around the Earth are unmanned? Because they don't need in-situ human control.
Manned surface operations are a different matter. They can do a whole lot of things you can't do with robots- at least not yet- that humans are pretty good at. And yes, while it would cost far more, you can't really put a price on scientific knowledge... maybe you can put a price on children dressing up as astronauts.
The major challenge is not building the mission architecture itself, the challenge is committing oneself to execute a mission architecture. And so far, nobody has done that of course.
You're forgetting radiation shielding. If you have no radiation shielding, then you should forget it.