New "Juno" Mission To Jupiter Announced

Riding with Robots writes "Today NASA announced it is officially proceeding with the Juno robotic mission to Jupiter. Scheduled to launch in August 2011 and reach the largest planet in 2016, the spacecraft will orbit the planet 32 times, skimming about 4,800 kilometers over the planet's cloud tops for about a year. The mission will focus on Jupiter's structure and evolution, and not on Europa or the other icy moons that may hide oceans under their surfaces — a disappointment if you ask me. Then again, all planetary missions so far have turned up amazing images and surprising scientific discoveries, and I doubt this expedition will be any different." We discussed NASA's deliberation of its short list a few days back.

Comments

When can I book my tickets?

[Brian.Kirby]

I'm just waiting for the day that we can use Travelocity to compare prices on flights to Mars... I guess going to Jupiter would be okay, too, if I were able to rack up a lot of frequent flier miles.

Re:Shame

[sbeckstead]

Yeah I want my tax dollars to go toward probing bodies in this system. I've already had mine probed last month.
But there are bodies I'd like to see probed starting with Angelina Jolie, maybe Alysa Milano, a few super models maybe.