Is there any science that can be performed as the craft plunges into the Jovian atmosphere? Or is it just a convenient "trash can"? Also, who's to say there won't be some contamination there as well... it sounds like these guys haven't read enough Science Fiction to be so sure of themselves... ;-) Rich --- Patrick Wiggins <PWiggins@CO.SLC.UT.US> wrote:

My 2 cents worth:

1) The cameras are probably focused at infinity so extreme close ups would be out of focus. 2) Exposures that far from the Sun tend to be relatively long so the fast moving landscape seen during "final" would probably blur. 3) The Ioan ambassador would not like it.

Cheers!

Patrick :-)

Chuck Hards wrote:

...

NASA plans to scuttle the Galileo orbiter next

year,

...

by plunging it into Jupiter's atmosphere. This is being planned to avoid a possible crash on Europa, which may contaminate that world and any possible life existing there.

I'm thining that a crash into Io may be much more interesting, especially if "safe-mode" shutdowns can be overridden, allowing very high-resolution imagery of the surface.

Contamination should not be an issue on Io.

Opinions?

-Chuck

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--- Patrick Wiggins <PWiggins@CO.SLC.UT.US> wrote:

My 2 cents worth:

1) The cameras are probably focused at infinity so extreme close ups would be out of focus.

Yes and no. "Infinity" focus could mean anything beyond 50 meters. I'm sure they would stay in-focus down to several hundred meters, at least. Recall the very sharp close-ups of Eros, from a camera designed for orbital imaging.

2) Exposures that far from the Sun tend to be relatively long so the fast moving landscape seen during "final" would probably blur.

Camera angles and spacecraft speed can be modified to mitigate these concerns. Software exists to sharpen images with known blur components.

3) The Ioan ambassador would not like it.

Patrick, take a break! What color is the sky in your world? ;) C. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/