Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

oalfonso t1_j60900b wrote

Reply to comment by Different_Muscle_116 in How come space probes generally take photos of moons or asteroids from several hundred (or thousands) of kilometers away from the object they orbit? by Different_Muscle_116

Juno main mission wasn't taking pictures, it was magnetosphere analysis to try to understand Jupiter's internal structure. The orbits were set for that mission, not pictures.

Also, any orbit on Jupiter and Saturn has to be carefully analysed to minimise the impact of the radiation on the spacecraft.

16

Different_Muscle_116 OP t1_j60at10 wrote

That makes a lot of sense.

3

oalfonso t1_j60b7o7 wrote

Take this with a pinch of salt because I don't remember when I heard it or read it. Juno originally wasn't going to have any cameras and NASA PR department demanded them to have something to show to the public because unless you are a scientist the telemetry data alone is not cool.

10

sifuyee t1_j610i4u wrote

Mike Malin had proposed the Junocam instrument and been rejected. He will point out that JPL-run missions have a much higher than statistically expected predominance of JPL-developed payloads. However, Mike managed to convince enough folks to eventually get HQ to add Junocam to the payload suite anyway, partly by arguing that it would be a very effective way to engage the public in the mission.

2