While all the new science coming out of AAS is amazing, the day-to-day work of space exploration is still going on in the background. One of the things we don’t like to think about is budgets and working out what programs will and won’t get funding in the future. For a change, we have good news on the budget front. Reviewers looking at the progress being made by the InSight mission on Mars and the Juno mission at Jupiter have determined both science missions are going well and still have a lot of science worth supporting that they can do.
The InSight mission is extended thru December 2022. This lander is currently sitting on the surface of Mars measuring weather and seismic activity and trying and failing to dig down through the Martian soil. Continuing to try and burrow through the Mars landscape will be the lowest priority for this continuing mission; efforts will instead be focused on continuing to measure Mars’ seasonal weather variations and in monitoring what turns out to be the active shakes, rattles, and rolls that rock the Red Planet
The Juno mission is being renewed through September 2025 or the end of its life, whichever comes first (which kind of makes sense). Not only that, but the mission is being expanded to include three of the Galilean moons – Ganymede, Europa, and Io. Those of you that know me, probably assume I did a happy dance or some such at the news, and you would be correct.
The extended mission will include another 42 additional orbits of the system, including some close passes of the north polar cyclones and flybys of the aforementioned moons. Additionally, Juno is tasked with exploring Jupiter’s ring system. All of the data collected will advance goals for NASA’s solar system exploration strategy, being passed forward for the upcoming Europa Clipper and JUICE missions. Exploring Io is part of the National Academy of Sciences’ plans for a future Io mission, and I am all for that.
How is this mission going to keep going? They’re doing a fantastic job of conserving fuel. Juno project manager Ed Hirst explained: The mission designers have done an amazing job crafting an extended mission that conserves the mission’s single most valuable resource — fuel. Gravity assists from multiple satellite flybys steer our spacecraft through the Jovian system while providing a wealth of science opportunities.
Go, go, Juno!
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