Yeah I know. Met a guy who was a mechanical engineer at NASA and I said it must be cool to work at the very cutting edge of technology, and he said, "Hengngnh, not so much."
But not even Elon Musk is going to go to Jupiter just to see what's there.
"On the 11th it was in this formation, and the star closest to Jupiter was half the size than the other and very close to the other so that during the previous nights all of the three observed stars looked of the same dimension and among them equally afar; so that it is evident that around Jupiter there are three moving stars invisible till this time to everyone."
"The spacecraft also carries three Lego figurines representing Galileo, the Roman god Jupiter and his wife Juno."
Edit: Hah! The | Legos are made out of aluminum |, because the ABS plastic (acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene) that Legos are normally made with wouldn't handle the rigors of space and radiation too well.
Damn. We've been socked in with fog from 6PM until 1030AM these days…I think I'll go inland tonight and pull out the scope for folks (including myself) to look at Jupiter. Seems like the thing to do.
I was curious to find out if they're using high efficiency solar panels, because…damn.
From Juno's wikipedia page: The panels would produce 12-14kW of power on earth, and have a total area of 60 square meters, so that's (13 kW/60) = 217 W/m^2. If we assume we're talking 800 W/m^2 incident on earth's surface or 1 kW/m^2 above the atmosphere at earth distance from the sun, that would be anywhere from 22 to 27% efficient. Maybe that 12-14kW mentioned is the above/below atmosphere spread already. Normal solar cells are 12% efficient or so, so yeah, high eff solar cells. I have a friend who works for a company that makes triple junction solar cells for space stuff like this. Maybe I should ping her…another smart Polish woman (sigh,smile…).
At Jupiter's distance, the panels will produce a bit less than 500 watts, down to 400 as they get abused by Jupiter's radiation belts.
Edit: also: after scanning the web and encountering many content-free articles, seems the solar cells are made by a subsidiary of Boeing in Los Angeles, they're gallium arsenide cells, and half the power they produce will go towards just keeping Juno's guts warm. Space is cold
I do remember watching the images materialize on teevee, one line at a time as the data arrived. First ever digital image of Mars, 15 July 1965. "The electrical power for the instruments and the radio transmitter of Mariner 4 was supplied by 28,224 solar cells contained in the four 176 x 90 cm solar panels, which could provide 310 watts at the distance of Mars. A rechargeable 1200 W·h silver-zinc battery was also used for maneuvers and backup."
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/M01Bx6Sx5C.jpg">
By the way, they have some of these spacecraft, or ones like them, on display at the Air and Space Museum's annex at Dulles.
Josh Fruhlinger, [ former Wonkstar, Comics Curmudgeon ], on freedom work yet to be done: I for one yearn for the days when a bird-man wearing saddle shoes and what appear to be purple leg warmers but no pants can have a frank, honest, and open discussion about his sex life in the newspaper.
I'm watchin'.
This is the kind of thing free enterprise does much better than government.
Except always.
Sometimes, sometimes not- when I read | this |, I was quite annoyed at congresscritters keeping old tech alive because jerbs.
Yeah I know. Met a guy who was a mechanical engineer at NASA and I said it must be cool to work at the very cutting edge of technology, and he said, "Hengngnh, not so much."
But not even Elon Musk is going to go to Jupiter just to see what's there.
Juno is so sciency that they outright admit that the visible light camera that they tacked was for NASA PR only.
I loves me my science, but I also would have wanted a camera. I like my pretty pitchers too.
Juno what I mean!
"On the 11th it was in this formation, and the star closest to Jupiter was half the size than the other and very close to the other so that during the previous nights all of the three observed stars looked of the same dimension and among them equally afar; so that it is evident that around Jupiter there are three moving stars invisible till this time to everyone."
-Galileo Galilei, January 1610
Plaque affixed to Juno spacecraft
Oh dear.
Orbital Insertion
"The spacecraft also carries three Lego figurines representing Galileo, the Roman god Jupiter and his wife Juno."
Edit: Hah! The | Legos are made out of aluminum |, because the ABS plastic (acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene) that Legos are normally made with wouldn't handle the rigors of space and radiation too well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcoVdYO1ymc
Damn. We've been socked in with fog from 6PM until 1030AM these days…I think I'll go inland tonight and pull out the scope for folks (including myself) to look at Jupiter. Seems like the thing to do.
I was curious to find out if they're using high efficiency solar panels, because…damn.
From Juno's wikipedia page: The panels would produce 12-14kW of power on earth, and have a total area of 60 square meters, so that's (13 kW/60) = 217 W/m^2. If we assume we're talking 800 W/m^2 incident on earth's surface or 1 kW/m^2 above the atmosphere at earth distance from the sun, that would be anywhere from 22 to 27% efficient. Maybe that 12-14kW mentioned is the above/below atmosphere spread already. Normal solar cells are 12% efficient or so, so yeah, high eff solar cells. I have a friend who works for a company that makes triple junction solar cells for space stuff like this. Maybe I should ping her…another smart Polish woman (sigh,smile…).
At Jupiter's distance, the panels will produce a bit less than 500 watts, down to 400 as they get abused by Jupiter's radiation belts.
Edit: also: after scanning the web and encountering many content-free articles, seems the solar cells are made by a subsidiary of Boeing in Los Angeles, they're gallium arsenide cells, and half the power they produce will go towards just keeping Juno's guts warm. Space is cold
Is it true that some of the first probes to Mars only sent back four or five pictures?
I thought you were in the gallery!
I do remember watching the images materialize on teevee, one line at a time as the data arrived. First ever digital image of Mars, 15 July 1965. "The electrical power for the instruments and the radio transmitter of Mariner 4 was supplied by 28,224 solar cells contained in the four 176 x 90 cm solar panels, which could provide 310 watts at the distance of Mars. A rechargeable 1200 W·h silver-zinc battery was also used for maneuvers and backup."
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/M01Bx6Sx5C.jpg">
By the way, they have some of these spacecraft, or ones like them, on display at the Air and Space Museum's annex at Dulles.
Heck, Lot was around when Galileo first saw Jupiter's moons.
Josh Fruhlinger, [ former Wonkstar, Comics Curmudgeon ], on freedom work yet to be done:
I for one yearn for the days when a bird-man wearing saddle shoes and what appear to be purple leg warmers but no pants can have a frank, honest, and open discussion about his sex life in the newspaper.
In moderation?! On July 4th?!
THIS TYRANNY WILL NOT STAND!!!!!!
Everything in moderation- including moderation!
Careful…
Okay.