Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:52PM PDT
About the ocean - Europa is composed of water ice and silicate rocks -
so saline like Earth's oceans is the best bet
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:53PM PDT
Yes, we will be taking color images of all the satellites as well as
of Jupiter
anonymous: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:55PM PDT
Thanks Kelly!
Ron Baalke, Galileo Outreach, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:59PM PDT
Differents parts of the Galileo home page updates at different times.
The Countdown to the next encounter is updated every minute. The
Galileo Amazing Fact changes every 15 minutes. Missions updates
come out about once a week, or whenever something newsworthy happens.
We've just started to release new Galileo images on a daily basis
on the home page.
Greg LaBorde - Galileo Testbed and System Engineer: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:56PM PDT
I know that there is a "Europa Submarine" mission in the fantasy room
right now... just like there was a Jupiter Orbiter/Probe 30 years ago!
Greg LaBorde - Galileo Testbed and System Engineer: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:57PM PDT
It'd be a robot, though. Not enough volunteers for a one-way mission.
spiritchaser: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:58PM PDT
I'll volunteer for a one way mission! Any day!
anonymous: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:58PM PDT
I'm sure that you wouldn't go on a one-way mission would you
spiritchaser: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:58PM PDT
Though I must add that a submarine is a good second choice for a life
on Europa exploratory mission (and a neat SF idea).
spiritchaser: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:10PM PDT
About this super-salty subsurface ocean: What's the likelyhood of finding
life there? Any better or worse than that for Epona? (Realizes that this
is *highly speculative*).
Geoffrey Collins, Brown University/Galileo Imaging Team: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:23PM PDT
spiritchaser - About life on Ganymede vs. Europa... One theory of how life evolved on the Earth involves the interaction of clay, water, and organics at undersea hot springs (like at mid-ocean ridges). In that case, Europa might be more likely to have life, because Europa doesn't have as much total water as Ganymede, so beneath a Europan ocean is rock, while beneath a Ganymede ocean is more ice (higher pressure phases of ice, which are denser than water).
Dangerous Curves: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:34PM PDT
(To Spiritchaser on the submarine mission to Europa) we're sending you. Get your wetsuit and your mittens
Steve Collins Galileo Backroom (Attitude Control): . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 3:58PM PDT
Katie: For the most part thing are pretty fast paced and exciting.
Sometimes when you are sitting in the MSA at 4:00 am filling out
predicts from data that comes in only once every hour or so, it
can get tedious, but usually have plenty of other work I can bring
to do...
Greg LaBorde - Galileo Testbed and System Engineer: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:00PM PDT
I find writing test reports boring. I try to put them off until they
are no longer relevant.
Steve Collins Galileo Backroom (Attitude Control): . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:00PM PDT
GLHeber: We didn't have a thruster firing at closest approach, but
the gravity assist from ganymede changed the orbit substatially.
GLHeber@AOL.com: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:03PM PDT
Thanks a lot guys and keep up all the great work.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:01PM PDT
Joe, the lack of an atmosphere and the extremely cold temperatures
means liquids are unlikely to persist on the surface of Ganymede
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:04PM PDT
(Reply to Joe Bauman) The ridges and troughs on Ganymede are very unlikely to
be carved by any kind of flowing liquid. Generally, to have long-term
fluid flows on the surface of a planetary body, you need to have a pretty
substantial atmosphere. Certainly more than Ganymede has.
Joe Bauman: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:04PM PDT
How do you know the temperature of the surface of Ganymede? If it
has a liquid core, which seems likely, couldn't it be warming the
surface?
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:06PM PDT
we know the surface temp. in part from Voyager, Pioneer, and Hubble
measurements in the infrared part of the spectrum. We also know that
the surface (which is mostly water ice) hasn't been warm enough to
melt since over a billion years ago.
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:10PM PDT
I also wanted to say, Mr. Bauman, that the possible magnetic field of Ganymede
has a lot of planetary scientists scratching their heads. I'm not sure there are
too many people who have any idea how you can reconcile a liquid core for
Ganymede with our current understanding of how planet-sized bodies
evolve over time. I think it's great that the Jovian system is still
presenting us with such intriguing questions.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:02PM PDT
Inkman - an extended mission is being proposed - to get back to Io
Steve Collins Galileo Backroom (Attitude Control): . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:02PM PDT
Inkman, there are plans for an extended mission being worked right
now, but the word from nasa HQ is that we will have to compete for
money head to head with new-start programs. An extended mission is
not guarenteed.
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:02PM PDT
Work is in progress to investigate extended mission options - concentrated on Europa science. Whether there will be money in NASA's budget for an extended mission is a big question.
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:04PM PDT
The primary focus of an extended mission would be Europa. The extended mission is called the "Galileo Europa Mission". The Io flyby would come at the end, and it's success would depend on propellant availability and radiation exposure.
Inkman: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:04PM PDT
I've been following the planetary missions since the Pioneer days....and I'm interseted to know if Galileo's mission will be extended after it's primary mission:)??
katie: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:01PM PDT
I have to say though, that this is a very interesting web site.
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:00PM PDT
If anyone has any questions related to Galileo navigation or the trajectory, I'd be happy to try to give an answer.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:08PM PDT
spiritchaser- the densities of Ganymede and Europa do not preclude
iron based cores - they are essentially rocky bodies like earth with
ice crusts
Geoff Collins, Brown University/Galileo SSI team: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:08PM PDT
About an iron core in Ganymede -- it's possible, but it would be highly unlikely to be molten after four billion years of planetary cooling. The magnetic field observed around Ganymede, is more easily explained (in my opinion) by currents in a super-salty subsurface ocean.
spiritchaser: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:09PM PDT
Okay, assuming Ganymede had an iron core, how large is it expected to be?
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:20PM PDT
Phew. the questions are coming fast and furious. be patient folks and
we'll get as many as possible.
Re Ganymede iron core:
Ganymede's iron core (*if* it has one) must be quite small. I don't
have any good numbers in front of me, but...
Ganymede's density is such that it's consistent with being 1/2 ice
and 1/2 rock. Iron is a lot denser than rock -- so any iron core
would have to be quite small. To put good bounds on that we'll need
to see gravity data -- which we'll be gathering in september
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:05PM PDT
Declan- we will be imaging many small satellites (metis, almathea,
and adrasta to name a few) as well as the rings of Jupiter
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:07PM PDT
Declan Moriarty: We'll also be taking picture of Thebe. Don't expect the
pix to be anything like the Galilean satellites. We don't get that close
to them. The biggest (Amalthea) will be, at most, 20-30 pixels across.
We are mainly interested in getting shape and composition information.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:11PM PDT
Tim Harvey: We are getting back anywhere from 3-7 images per day.
It all depends the type of data compression used, and how much compression
is specified.
Seq1: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:12PM PDT
RE: number of images / day, from sequencing point of view- 2 ways to estimate; ~40-60 frames to be returned during next ~2 mths, so a picture per day avg.
GllSeq1: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:16PM PDT
The other way to think is- each 800x800 pixel frame makes it close to
1 megabits per frame; total megabits to ground is on the order of ~158;
of that, ~15 megabits were used for the early image return (first 4-8
released to public already).
Tim Harvey: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:14PM PDT
Mr. Kaufman: thank you. Of those images, how many are navigation checks and how many are of Jupiter, now that the ganymede flyby is over?
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:18PM PDT
Tim Harvey: I don't have the numbers at hand here... but I beleive we take approx.
30 optical navigation images (OPNAVs) per orbit. As for Jupiter....on
each orbit we choose a given atmospheric feature (such as the Great
Red Spot) and look at it several times and at several different lighting
conditions. Each observation is made up of anywhere from 2-10 frames
(or footprints) and 2-4 filters (or colors).
Brian Stroud: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:11PM PDT
Talking of antenna difficulties, have you now given up tring to free
the high bandwidth antenna ?
Jim Erickson, Science and Sequence Office, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:14PM PDT
Brian Stroud: We made our final attempt before the Ganymede encounter. Without any new information that indicates anything has changed we won't try again.
Inkman: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:16PM PDT
Well I really do'nt have anymore questions,but with all the surprises these missions have......just MAYBEEEEEE.......that darn ANTENNA will pop OPEN all by itself!!!!!!!
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:18PM PDT
Inkman - Given everything that's been tried already, it's very unlikely that the high-gain antenna will open by itself. Even if it does, it would be difficult to adjust the already-planned sequences to take advantage of it.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:09PM PDT
Inkman: Well.... the Cassini Huygens probe won't have a camera on it.
Huygens will be similar to the Galileo probe. Of course, Cassini
orbiter DOES have a camera on it.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:13PM PDT
Tim Harvey: Yes, we be making global color mosaics, but they won't
have the same resolution as the recently released Ganymede pix. They
mainly fill in the gaps in the color Voyager data where the resolution is very poor.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:14PM PDT
Tim Harvey: The basic idea is to obtain very-high-resolution images of
certain regions, along with low- to medium-res images to show the context of
the high-res.
Orfila: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:14PM PDT
The high resolution images of Ganymede so far appear to suggest something in between ice floes and plate tectonics on Earth. Any speculations along these lines?
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:19PM PDT
Orfila- we were stunned by the Ganymede high res and are still poring
over them, tectonic activity is dominating what we see, but we are
still trying to figure out what type of tectonics and the origin of
the stresses
Orfila: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:40PM PDT
Thanks everyone. Keep up the good work!
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:21PM PDT
The tape recorder is capable of holding a maximum of about 300 images.
But, of coures, we have to share the tape recorder with the other 9
instruments on the spacecraft.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:23PM PDT
Anon- the tape recorded is used by almost all the onboard instruments -
so we share space with other data (besides our images). We compress
our images by different amounts (taking more or less tape) depending on
the satellite imaged. So the number varys by target and orbit
seq1: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:21PM PDT
After E11 next november/december, extended mission is being discussed; funding is one factor.
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:20PM PDT
Ben Jones - We have been looking at extended mission options that follow the Europa 11 encounter. It's all very preliminary at this point.
Ben Jones: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:22PM PDT
Lou - Then are we talking maybe a gravity assist to get galileao to
the Saturn system, or perhaps even further? Or maybe something like
Voyager I?
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:23PM PDT
Ben Jones - No - nothing like that is possible. We are looking at repeated close encounters with Europa followed by a close Io encounter. It would be near-impossible to escape the Jupiter system at this point.
Dangerous Curves: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:24PM PDT
Ben Jones: I don't think they would send Galileo to Saturn. The orbiter would just continue around Jupiter. There's definitely not enough propellant for a trip to Saturn
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:27PM PDT
Ben Jones: The options for the extended mission include going back to
Io (which we missed because of the initial tape recorder failure
during the Jupiter approach sequence) and focusing only on Europa for
the remaining life of the spacecraft.
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:29PM PDT
spiritchaser: There is not enough propellant left onboard Galileo to put it into orbit about Europa.
spiritchaser: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:30PM PDT
Lou D'Amario: (about orbiting Europa) Darn!
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:27PM PDT
MUSER: Galileo will remain in orbit at Jupiter indefinitely. There is a small possibility that the spacecraft will impact either Jupiter or one of its satellites over a timeframe of several thousand years.
Nutrition Facts: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:21PM PDT
Muser in regards to your question to Jim Kaufman the pictures are probably better
seq1: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:23PM PDT
Muser: according to a remark made by proj. scientist torrence johnson [sp?], the GreatRedSpot 6-image mosaic (on this web page) is the best ever of a methane filter at this resolution; ~10x better than HubbleSpaceTelescope.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:29PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: (asked about discovering new satellites). There are no
plans to search for any small satellites (as Voyager did). We just don't have
the resources (i.e., tape and downlink capabilities).
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:30PM PDT
Icequakes on Ganymede: I'm not sure how large the largest possible
Ganymede quake would be, except that it'd be smaller than ones on Earth.
There are several reasons for that -- the most important are that water ice
is less dense than rock and at least slightly weaker. It can't support stresses
as well, and it probably doesn't transmit seismic waves as efficiently.
Also, Ganymede's gravity is less than Earth's, which also tends to decrease
tectonic stress levels.
But it's generally thought that Ganymede would no longer have any
large (i.e., tectonic) icequakes. Just one's due to tidal forces or
meteorite impacts. And those would probably be very small (magnitudes
less than 2 or 3).
spiritchaser: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:35PM PDT
Duane Bindschadler: Thanks for the icequake info.
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:38PM PDT
spiritchaser: glad to help.
Eileen Ryan, Imaging Team, NOAO/PSI: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:35PM PDT
Answer to Muser's question on B/W vs. color images: We don't
actually use "film" to take these images. There is a CCD detector
in the camera--- something now commonly found on many 35mm cameras
and video recorders. To generate a color picture, we take an image
in 3 different filters, red, green, and blue, and then combine them.
Both B/W and color images have important uses. Sometimes false color
can be used to highlight certain areas of a surface, composed of different
rock compositions or ages.
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:25PM PDT
vikfan - One question likely to be unanswered by Galileo is whether Europa actually has a liquid ocean under its surface. Three are mission studies underway for a mission to answer just that question.
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:22PM PDT
Dangerous Curves - It's possible, but you typically need lots of full disk images surrounded with black sky, not close-up high-resolution images.
Inkman: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:27PM PDT
Will there be any additional imaging of Jupiter's ring system?
Ross Beyer, Imaging Team, NOAO: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:29PM PDT
Inkman: Galileo will image Jupiter's rings on orbits 3 and 10 which
are in November of this year, and October of 1997, respectively.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:31PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: My personal opinion is that the
probability for life on Ganymede is very small.
But I could be wrong..... I think there are other places
in the solar system that are more capable of sustaining life.
MUSER: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:33PM PDT
Jim: What "other places" in the Solar System could be more capable of supporting life
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:39PM PDT
MUSER: (life elsewhere is the solar system) Mars, Titan, and
Europa. In that order.
MUSER: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:40PM PDT
I'm signing off now. Thaks for all the answers Jim!
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:42PM PDT
MUSER: You are very welcome!
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:32PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: My most exciting moment was the firing of Galileo's large 400 Newton rocket engine that put Galileo into orbit about Jupiter.
Greg LaBorde - Galileo Testbed and Systems Engineer: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:33PM PDT
For me, the most exciting moment was the Probe Release. But it is all
pretty exciting.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:36PM PDT
Dangerour - for me the most exciting moments are yet to come [when we
image Callisto - the moon I am responsible for targeting]. So far seeing
the dark terrain images of Ganymede has been the most exciting
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:37PM PDT
for me, the most exciting moment was when I first heard about the magnetic field
measurements at Ganymede. Because the field is so strong, there's a real
possibility that it's internally generated. And if that's true, we're
going to have to rewrite a lot of textbooks. and revise a lot of our
thinking about the evolution of planets.
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:33PM PDT
(to Warren Fish) the underlying cause of tectonics on Ganymede is
convection within the interior. Convection occurs when the interior
of a body is warm enough to cause material to flow (often *verrry*
slowly) in order to transport heat toward the surface.
Geoff Collins, Brown University/Galileo Imaging Team: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:38PM PDT
Warren Fish: About the underlying cause of tectonics on Ganymede... I wish I knew!!! It's what I'm working on for my Ph.D. thesis. There's several different possibilities, including stresses from mantle convection and rising and falling plumes of material in the interior (like the Earth), or there are more far-out schemes involving such things as stresses from reorientation of the satellite due to a giant impact (essentially hitting the planet and knocking it on its side), or stresses from tidal interactions with Jupiter or the other Galilean satellites.
GllSeq1: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:33PM PDT
Data recv'd: the three sites/locations house the 3 "tracking stations"
(the large radio-antenna dishes) that receive all data from the spacecraft.
They are operated by NASA, leased sites from the host countries i believe.
Greg LaBorde - Galileo Testbed and Systems Engineer: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:34PM PDT
Actually, if I am not mistaken the Deep Space Communications Complexes
in Spain and Australia are operated by their respective countries'
Science organizations, probably with support from NASA.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:33PM PDT
Sky - about the Io color. The Voyager and Galileo camera systems use(d)
different wavelength color filters - so the resultant color composite
images will be different
Jim Erickson, Galileo Science and Sequence Office, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:35PM PDT
Orfila: The tape recorder behaved itself during the encounter and afterwards. We are going to refine our ground maodels to do better next encounter, but only a little bit.
GllSeq1 : . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:36PM PDT
The DMS (tape recorder) is finally operating as much as we can tell
exactly as predicted (by the latest models, which change weekly to
monthly).
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:36PM PDT
Orfila: The tape recorder seems to be working fine. We know that it
is NOT operating the way it was designed to, but we think we now know
how to operate a "sick" tape recorder. We haven't had any suprises yet,
but we all keep our fingers crossed!!!
Inkman: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:37PM PDT
Thanks Steve I figured I'd earned with all the taxes I've paid;)))!!
Ron Baalke, Galileo Outreach, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:38PM PDT
Inkman: About using Galileo images as backgrounds on your home page,
that is OK. Once any NASA images are released, they are in the public
domain. However, if you use the images in a publication, you should
credit the source of the image (NASA, JPL, etc.).
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:38PM PDT
Tim Harvey: Someone on one of the science teams would be the best person to say why Galileo cannot determine if there is a liquid ocean on Europa. Obviuosly we can't see through the ice. If detecting a liquid ocean were a primary objective, the spacecraft would have to have a radar instrument like Magellan at Venus.
Geoff Collins, Brown University/Galileo Imaging Team: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:41PM PDT
About the report of geysers on Ganymede: Well, I sure didn't see any geysers... However, Triton (the big moon of Neptune) has geysers shooting material kilometers high!
gar: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:43PM PDT
Geoff Collins: I was suspicious. I only saw it in one paper, and not
in any of the official reports posted here. But i'm a big fan of the
"Ice Volcanoes of Triton"!
Geoff Collins, Brown University/Galileo Imaging Team: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:46PM PDT
gar: Me too! My first exposure to planetary geosciences in college was working on Triton, so it's near and dear to my heart. :-)
gar: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:49PM PDT
Geoff: Good for you! I'll meet you on Triton, then!
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:41PM PDT
Regarding an extended mission that concentrates on Europa - it's not a quirk of navigation. Europa is a hot topic these days. There's a lot of interest in Europa at NASA headquarters.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:41PM PDT
Anon - Europa was the poorest imaged by Voyager. It's surface is apparently
youthful, quite smooth, and criss-crossed by lineaments. A liquid ocean
may exist beneath its icy crust. And, like Io, it may be geologically
active today -- All reasons why we are so interested in it!
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:42PM PDT
(about Europa-centric planning)
Discussions about extended missions center on Europa for two reasons.
(1) improving our knowledge of europa has a virtual guarantee of greatly improving
our understanding of that body in particular, and icy satellites in general.
(2) the possibility of life there (even if it's a remote one) makes it
an easy sell -- and a hard opportunity to pass up.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:41PM PDT
Anon: (3-D images of the GRS). Yes, there would be enough
information in the Great Red Spot images to make a 3-D map.
That is, in essence, one of the goals of these observations.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:45PM PDT
Anon - I don't do any 3-d modeling so I'm not sure what would be needed
We are imaging the Great Red spot in multiple colors and at different
times.
Seattle - some images will be released by PIO, others will be released
by the camera team and can be found at our web page
[button]
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:43PM PDT
Inkman: Please talk to my supervisor about the pay raise! ;-)
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:43PM PDT
inkman: send your congressperson some email with your opinion. We'll
all be grateful!
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:45PM PDT
Seattle: I think it will be quite some time before we see mulitiple
atmospheric probes at Jupiter. I think it is much more likely that we
will see mulitiple atmospheric probes at some other planet, such as Venus.
Now a balloon in floating in Jupiter's atmosphere........
Seattle: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:50PM PDT
I asked about multi-probes because I got the impression that Galileo data indicated
that conditions at the probe entry location may have been anomlaous, i.e.
uncharacteristic of the jovian atmosphere in general.
gar: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:46PM PDT
Mr. Kaufman: How big would a ballon have to be to float in Jupiter's
atmosphere????
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:49PM PDT
gar: It would depend on how big the payload is, what altitude
you wanted it at, etc. Ballon mission are being planned for other (smaller)
bodies and the sizes are on the order of 10 to 100 feet in diameter.
Steve Collins Galileo Backroom (Attitude Control): . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:51PM PDT
Making a balloon for Jupiter is something of a challenge since
the atmosphere is made mostly of hydrogen. Probably have
to be some kind of "hot air" balloon...
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:53PM PDT
Steve Collins: Good point!
gar: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:54PM PDT
Steve: Yes, just what i was wondering. Since ballons are "lighter than
air" things, and since Jupiter is mostly made up of the lightest element,
i was sort of wondering what would one use. Also, of course, there is Jupiter's
enormous gravitational field. Sounds like it would be difficult.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:47PM PDT
Tim Harvey: Yes, we will be getting high resolution images of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. In fact, I think Europa will have the highest-resolution. Kelly, is this correct?
Matthew Fishburn, Imaging Team, NOAO: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:49PM PDT
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:49PM PDT
Tim Harvey - yes, the highest resolution images are slotted for Europa
at ~11 meters per pixel. Callisto's highest will be ~25 meters per pixel
spiritchaser: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:49PM PDT
Oops, I've got to go. Thanks for all your answers!
Geoff Collins, Brown University/Galileo Imaging Team: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:54PM PDT
About the amount of topo variation on Ganymede: It's hard to tell so far, but on the next orbit we'll be getting stereo (3D) images of the area of Ganymede with all the ridges and grooves (Uruk Sulcus).
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:56PM PDT
Sky Baumann: The first area we saw in the images of Ganymede had a few
hundred meters of relief. The topography probably isn't as rugged as
Earth's can be -- except near impact craters.
Greg LaBorde - Galileo Testbed and Systems Engineer: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:51PM PDT
I have a BA in Physics and an MS in Electrical Engineering.
Jim Erickson, Galileo Science and Sequence Office, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:51PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: I majored in Physics, how about the rest of you?
Steve Collins Galileo Backroom (Attitude Control): . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:52PM PDT
I have bachelors degrees in Physics and Theater Arts
Ross Beyer, Imaging Team, NOAO: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:53PM PDT
I am currently double-majored in Astronomy and Physics, with a minor
in Geolgy. I'm still a young'un.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:53PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: I did grad work in geology - specifically remote
sensing (radar)
Matthew Fishburn, Imaging Team, NOAO: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:53PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: I got my B.S. in Physics and then an M.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.
Lou D'Amario, Galileo Navigation, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:53PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: There are a variety of disciplines necessary to plan and execute a planetary mission like Galileo. If you want to be a navigator or mission designer, you probanly need an advanced degree in aeronauticcal engineering while specializing in orbital mechanics, optimization theory, and estimation and flitering techniques for a start.
Eileen Ryan, Imaging Team, NOAO/PSI: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:53PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: I have a BA in physics, a Master's in astronomy,
and a PhD in planetary geosciences.
seq1: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:54PM PDT
There are (or were at least) actually some english, art, & german
majors on the Sequence Team; however, for JPL technical staff in
general, MechE's & EE's as well as CS people are prob. most common.
Dangerous Curves: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:54PM PDT
Steve Collins: Wow, good to hear there's hope for us Theater majors (I assume you got the Physics degree after the T.A.)
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:55PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: I have an AB in Physics and Astronomy from UC Berkeley, and
a Ph. D. in Physics from Caltech.
Geoff Collins, Brown University/Galileo Imaging Team: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:56PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: I majored in geology
Duane Bindschadler Magnetometer/Dust Detector Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:58PM PDT
Dangerous Curves: I did a BS in Physics, and an MSc and PhD in Geology & Geophysics
Eileen Ryan, Imaging Team, NOAO/PSI: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:49PM PDT
Hi Mark. Just curious (if I may ask you a question?). Will you be
planning to use any of the Galileo data/pictures in you science
classes this Fall?
Jim Erickson, Galileo Science and Sequence Office, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:49PM PDT
Mark: Welcome. Feel free to ask away. We particularly like helping out teachers.
Greg LaBorde - Galileo Testbed and Systems Engineer: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:50PM PDT
Mark, I am from Houston. What school?
Mark Dunk: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:52PM PDT
Eileen:
I recently (finally) connected with an ISP that gives me full-blown
Internet access. I had been using a text-only system made available
to Texas Educators (needless to say, the cost comes out of my pocket).
I have just recently started viewing the images, and WOW, they're
great. I teach in a science magnet program, and I teach chemistry
biology, and environmental science. Your info allows me to show the
students what exciting things are happening in science.
Mark Dunk: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:55PM PDT
Greg:
I live in Pearland TX and teach at Milby High School in Houston.
Milby is on the southeast side of town (ship channel). Milby currently
has about 3700 students and 185 teachers. Our magnet program is
called Integrated Science and teacher biology, chemistry, and physics
as related disciplines rather than separate ones.
Eileen Ryan, Imaging Team, NOAO/PSI: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:00PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Mark: Glad to hear that your making use of what we do to generate
enthusiasm in the classroom. You may want to check out the website
that Kelly posted a "button" to: SEPO-- which stands for SSi Team
education and public outreach. We're trying to develop education
exercises (based on Galileo science) that teachers can actually incorporate into their basic curriculum.
Mark Dunk: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:02PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Kelly: I missed your URL for the classroom stuff. send it again, pls,
or email me at markdunk@flash.net Thanx.
Kelly Bender, Galileo Imaging Team, ASU: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:04PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Mark - button
Eileen Ryan, Imaging Team, NOAO/PSI: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:04PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Mark: button is the link to the SEPO page. Sorry, I keep forgedtting these things scroll by so
fast!
Mark Dunk: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:08PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Eileen and Kelly: Thanx for the SEPO button info. I've bookmarked it
and I'll check it out later.
Mark Dunk: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:17PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Just wanted to commend everyone associated with this program! I
hope that this type of forum becomes widespread in the near future.
I look forward to the updates, and, now that I have experienced my
first "chat," hope that these exchanges can continue.
Steve Collins Galileo Backroom (Attitude Control): . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 4:59PM PDT
Current spacecraft are all using solid state data recorders instead
of the old magnetic tape units. No one has gone the CDROM route
that I know of.
Jim Erickson, Galileo Science and Sequence Office, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:00PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Blue Flame: Cassini will use a solid state recorder (basically a loarge fully addressable RAM storage device). Galileo today would certainly use something similiar. We almost used bubble memory, but the technology wasn't quite there.
GllSeq1 : . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:01PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Cassini will have a 2 Gigabyte (?) solid-state recorder, similar to
a very large RAM-disk.
Jim Kaufman, Galileo Imaging Team, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:02PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Blue Flame: If we designed GLL today, we would also have a much better
camera. The CCD in the camera is a 20+ year old design. CCDs have improves
a lot in that time.
Jim Erickson, Galileo Science and Sequence Office, JPL: . . . . Thu, Jul 18, 5:07PM PDT (-0700 GMT)
Blue Flame: Cassini will use two redundant 2 giga bit RAM memories.