Updates Juno Mission News and Updates

[Fixerger]

Also:

• Alternative record of the launch from space-multimedia in HD
• Launch replays in HD
  

 

[N_Molson]

Very nice launch, nice launch vehicle and very interesting data.

Be the with Juno during it's long trip, Jupiter isn't exactly next door !

 

[SandroSalgueiro]

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?

 

[Unstung]

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?

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.
Doesn't the spacecraft's final dV occurs when it burns up in Jupiter's atmosphere?

 

[SandroSalgueiro]

Thanks for the explanation.

Well, yes, I meant the final dV before establishing its course to Jupiter.

 

[george7378]

Wow, seeing it live was AMAZING! We watched from the Saturn V building, and could see the launch pad and rocket right from blastoff - after 40 minutes of (rather worrying) holds, we finally saw it light up and liftoff. It was really exciting to hear the countdown, see it take off, and then to feel the ground start shaking and hear the rumbling, crackling noise! I managed to film it by just leaving my camera on a tripod while I watched, but will have to wait until I get home to upload it.

The atmosphere was great too - everyone cheering and joining in the count, and also good to talk to during the holds! Really something.

 

[orb]

Nice photos of the launch in Spaceflight Now galleries below -

Spaceflight Now:

• Photo Gallery: Atlas rocket launches Juno
• Photo Gallery: Atlas rocket blasts off
• Photo Gallery: VAB roof view of Atlas launch

SPACE.com: After 'Phenomenal' Launch to Jupiter, Long Wait Begins, Scientists Say

Florida Today: Post-shuttle Jupiter journey hauls in the space hype

RIA Novosti: NASA launches Juno probe to explore Jupiter

 

[Keatah]

This mission is popular with the masses for several reasons.

#1 - Everybody knows the biggest planet - Jupiter. Just as 'famous' as Mars and Saturn.

#2 - In today's world of high-priced energy and eco-awareness - a solar powered rocket seems pretty cool! We're not polluting space with garbage or radiation. And a hybrid-solar rocket takes less gas.

#3 - The general idea of the mission is to determine how the Earth and Sun were made! That's better than the work being done by some stupid cosmic ray mapping satellite.

#4 - The rocket is the fastest thing in town, blasting at speeds of 160,000mph or more.

#5 - Armored radiation shields? Sounds big, burly, and nasty. Unstoppable.

#6 - "JUNO" is simple 4-letter word, easily remembered by the masses. It is also a tough-sounding name.

 

[Messierhunter]

Didn't get to attend the launch, but I did see the probe as well as the centaur upper stage last night. Fortunately, simply regressing the pre-launch trajectory data to account for the launch delay actually worked. I was thinking an hour delay shouldn't change the ejection burn too badly.

 

[T.Neo]

#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:

 

[IronRain]

Er... maybe.

For years whenever I've read "Juno", I think of this film. :uhh:

Same here :lol:

 

[N_Molson]

#7 - This is a deep-space mission, and I think it's what everyone expects now that we went on the Moon...

 

[Keatah]

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!

 

[Codz]

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!

I respectfully disagree. Manned is just as if not more important than probes. What if we decided to screw Apollo and just send lots of probes? What if we said screw Vostok and Mercury and just stuck to satillites?

 

[SandroSalgueiro]

I think the point of Keatah here is: what benefits would humans inside the spacecraft [Juno] bring as compared to the unmanned craft? At this moment, none. One of the main goals in both Vostok and Mercury programs was to test whether we could survive in a 0G environment and, if yes, how we would handle it -- then we had actual necessity of men in space.

Some people misunderstand the use of unmanned vehicles as some sort of culture that will replace man in his future endeavors, which is completely untrue. This view can even be identified as "a bit of pride excess" -- we aren't supposed to say "we can't let these machines take our place", but "let's send our machines to do our heavy work". Right now, they are actually serving as sacrifices for our better understanding of the universe surrounding us, and hopefully they will also serve as huge contributors in our future species expansion.

Ultimately, the use of unmanned spacecrafts should not be seen as a separatist factor that would split aerospace scientists between "emancipators" and "adherents"; it should be seen as a definite scientific gain. Apollo may have been "a giant leap for mankind", but the program wouldn't be possible without the use of probes that started flying to the Moon in 1959.

 

[T.Neo]

Folks, this is real space exploration!

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.

And what about the radiation there? The unmanned probe can stay there for a year. How long a manned mission? Hours? Days? Forget it!

You're forgetting radiation shielding. If you have no radiation shielding, then you should forget it.

 

[Codz]

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.

I completely agree. Probes are important but are not and should not be the center and most important part of space flight.

 

[orb]

Spaceflight Now:

• Rocket-mounted cameras capture Juno's launch (PHOTO GALLERY #1)
• Rocket-mounted cameras capture Juno's launch (PHOTO GALLERY #2)

 

[ADSWNJ]

Does anyone have the trajectory data for the various stages of the Juno ascent to orbit? I'm not taking about the general press kit, etc (which was interesting but not very detailed). I'm talking about enough info to model it into TransX or IMFD to do this in a DG!

As a new member round here, it was cool to watch the launch parameters in the NASA TV stream and understand what they meant (e.g. App rising, Ecc going >1 on the eject stage, etc).

 

[orb]

United Launch Alliance Atlas V JUNO Launch Highlights

ULA: Atlas V JUNO Launch Highlights

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