Closing In On Jupiter

Jupiter2This Saturday at 5:51 a.m. PDT, (8:51 a.m. EDT, 12:51 UTC) NASA’s Juno spacecraft will get closer to the cloud tops of Jupiter than at any other time during its prime mission. At the moment of closest approach, Juno will be about 2,500 miles (4,200 kilometers) above Jupiter’s swirling clouds and traveling at 130,000 mph (208,000 kilometers per hour) with respect to the planet. There are 35 more close flybys of Jupiter scheduled during its prime mission (scheduled to end in February of 2018). The Aug. 27 flyby will be the first time Juno will have its entire suite of science instruments activated and looking at the giant planet as the spacecraft zooms past.

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Author: craigcrawford

Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.

58 thoughts on “Closing In On Jupiter”

  1. my, how time slips away when one’s so far away

    nasa Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Saturn 35 years ago — on Aug. 25, 1981. What the Voyagers revealed at the planet was so phenomenal that, just one year later, a joint American and European working group began discussing a mission that would carry on Voyager’s legacy at Saturn. That mission — named Cassini — has been studying the Saturn system since 2004. Cassini has followed up on many of Voyager’s discoveries, and has deepened our understanding of what some might call a “mini solar system.”

    [….]

    Voyager 2’s mission of discovery continues to this day. It is now part of the Heliophysics System Observatory, a collection of missions that explore our space environment, and which contribute to protecting future missions on their journeys. Voyager now explores what’s known as the interstellar boundary region, where material blowing out from the sun encounters similar winds from other stars.

  2. Thanks, patd, for mentioning the Voyager twins…last year NASA was looking for Fortran IV programmers.  I wrote a couple of small programs in the old ‘formula translation’ language while working with Boulder County, Colorado.  Today, Voyagers are described as “Healthy Old Senior Citizens.”

    And more from the old is new file, I spotted this in google news from NPR…government cheese is back!  Just like the reagan years.

  3. Craig, from the last post regarding coal…it is not just Kentucky experiencing transition pains.  There are many headlines from around the country about coal waste…coal ash disasters.   Coal Ash bedevils OK town.    The ‘we don’t need no stinking regulations’ crowd that puts public health beneath profit is in charge…and we are paying the price not only for today’s polluters, but also for the plunderers of yesteryear.  Then add in an EPA that is such a cluster mess of rules and regs…look at the mess from the King’s gold mine in Colorado.  How does the natural world protect itself by ending-up in court?  Although I fully endorse the new cannabis industry, too, it is also a polluter in its current infancy.  Grown indoors, its carbon footprint is ridiculous…yet, it is not safely grown outdoors.  Large operations pollute terribly.  Until the Nixonian DEA loosens its grip and reclassifies cannabis (it denied reclassification recently), it will be just like the EPA.  Most Americans want efficiency, sane regulations and a balanced look at what type of employment creates a safe and healthy living environment.  So many of these industries have been dying since the 1950s…old factories just going away and the pollution they bring with them have moved to China…does anyone really want to bring that pollution back?

  4. Blonde Wino,

    Government cheese! In June,1972, the remnants of Hurricane Agnes devastated my hometown & surrounding communities along the New York/Pennsylvania border. Government agencies provided those in need with 5lb blocks of cheese & peanut butter that came in large metal cans. Commonsense portable potables that didn’t spoil in the damp environment.

     

  5. In regards to the map featured in yesterday’s post … the New York counties hilighted were pretty much the story of my mom’s family & my childhood. Hop over the border into northern Pennsylvania too for kinfolk. I know this region well. I was born, grew up there. Prettiest place on earth; limited economic options. Which is why so many of us born there are “from” and not “residing in.” I miss the beauty but not the sense of hopelessness.

  6. “government cheese is back”

    bw, hmmm, that accounts for all the rats returning to critterville.

    carbon footprint of inside growing will be traded for another environmental damage when the industry starts growing outside. it will probably mimic the mono-culture expanse and problems caused by corn and soy farms…and before that tobacco.  speaking of which, small tobacco family farmers were also hit (and somewhat helped by alternative ag programs) when their livelihood hit the skids. tobacco like coal also produces death for billions as well as making billions for some.

  9. for those who are interested, here’s a portion of today’s Alexandra petri: A transcript of Hillary’s disastrous debate prep

    Various sources report that Hillary Clinton is having trouble locating a Donald Trump substitute to stand in for him as she preps for their first debate. I can only imagine. 

    —

    Hillary Clinton stands at the ready in front of a big stack of angry newsprint  a child’s crude papier-mache of Jabba the Hutt  one of those giant plastic chairs shaped like a hand  an empty Segway gone rogue  Tim Kaine in an ill-fitting suit. 

    Hillary: Whenever you’re ready, Tim.

    Tim Kaine hesitates. 

    Tim: I’m just — I — I don’t want to say mean things to you, Hillary.

    Hillary: I know that you won’t mean them, Tim.

    Tim: I know that. Of course. In theory, I totally know that, but I worry that in the heat of the moment I might become carried away and say something hurtful that you would remember.

    Hillary emits a low, hollow chuckle. 

    [….]

    Meanwhile, at Trump headquarters.

    Trump yells at an increasingly uncomfortable Paul Ryan. 

    Donald: You’re disgusting. You disgust me. Blood every-which-where. Disgusting! Awful deals — just awful! This is what you will get! Crooked! So crooked!

    Paul Ryan stands there fidgeting. 

    Paul: I didn’t realize I was your Hillary stand-in or I would have prepared something.

    Donald: What? No, I’m talking to you, Paul.

     

  10. Hey Pogo…

    from the last thread…    I didn’t even know that Trump was in my state until I saw it on the news late last night.  As for black friends around here….  yeah…  I suppose I could have taken my neighbor’s Labrador Retriever to the rally…

  12. from cnn:

    “Here’s what we’re going to make sure of, that the good work that these programs are doing continues,” Clinton told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “We’re going to be testing (transferring responsibility), and that’s why the Clinton Foundation is looking for partners … not necessarily the same partner for all of the work.”
    Clinton also responded to what she called a “fair question” from host Joe Scarborough as to why the Clintons are not transferring the foundation’s work to other nonprofits to ensure there’s no potential for conflict of interest if Clinton were elected.

    “I appreciate the concerns that people have expressed, and that’s why I’ve made it clear that if I’m successful in November, we are going to be taking additional steps,” Clinton said. “But the fact is, winding down some of these programs takes a long time, you don’t just turn … off a switch.”
    The Clintons have announced that if she is elected president, they will stop accepting foreign donations and corporate donations, and both Hillary and Bill Clinton will separate themselves from the organization. But their daughter, Chelsea Clinton, will continue with the foundation and the organization will continue to do its work, which includes public health, economic and empowerment efforts globally.

  13. foxnews:

    Clinton called into CNN’s “AC360” to address Trump’s suggestions that the foundation started by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had been used to facilitate a pay-for-play scheme during her time at the State Department.

    “What Trump has said is ridiculous. My work as secretary of state was not influenced by any outside forces. I made policies based on what I thought was right,” Clinton said. She said the foundation had provided “life-saving work,” adding that neither she nor her husband had ever drawn a salary from the charity.

    “You know more about the foundation than you know about anything concerning Donald Trump’s wealth, his business, his tax returns,” Clinton said.

    The phone interview came as her top campaign officials and allies are playing defense, arguing that the foundation has helped millions of people around the globe while Trump’s business interests carry their own blind spots.

  16. so as not to mislead about the above. it was not about the planet of which we speak today.

    from wiki: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, on 10 August 1788. It was the last symphony that he composed, and also the longest. The work is nicknamed the Jupiter Symphony. This name stems not from Mozart but rather was likely coined by the impresario Johann Peter Salomon in an early arrangement for piano.

  19. Government cheese and cans of powdered eggs.

    If anyone comes round the DC region check in, I might be around for brunch, lunch, dinner or coffee.  I usually will need a day or so advance warning.

    I was a Fortran IV and other versions programmer.  Mostly obscure assembler languages, a touch of Oracle, ADA, Pascal, C, C+, Unix, DOS, Windows command prompt and a few others I cannot remember anymore.  For fun C++, C#, Linux, DOS, MS Windows command prompt, JAVA, Python, Ruby on Rails, and others.  I refuse to program for a living anymore.  Not worth the brain damage.  But having all that behind me makes me a different project manager.  When given a software definition I know what they are doing and I know what it takes to get the job done.

    So, we sit and wait for the bloated one to come up with something other than calling HRC a “bigot”.  Which is fine for his red meat crowd, but destroys his chances with anyone else. I expect him to do better, bigger and with more spittle.  Of course the scary thing is for someone his age and with his lifestyle of grease eating to pop an artery.  Possibly blow a vein on stage.  Then we have Pence.  Keep the defibrillator handy.

     

     

  21. this is what the public is now hearing  Clinton blah blah blah Trump ewwwwwwwwwww

  23. Listening to teevee this morning offered some personal encouragement. One guru clearly said the dismal candidates that we are left with prove that the Baby Boom Generation is on its last legs. Thank goodness I was born before the War. I wonder what those in my cohort are called–born towards the end of the Depression but prior to the War.

  25. But Conway often mentions that she is a mother to “four young children” as she works through her television talking points. Conway says she doesn’t like personal insults.

     

    She doesn’t like them when they are directed at her but she is perfectly happy to dish them out.  The Condom is a big fat liar

  27. Thank you, Pat. I hadn’t heard of that one before. I see that we were also called the ‘younger generation’. That one I did hear until the early 50s. It was usually preceded or followed by a sigh. I suppose the Korean War ended that expression. I didn’t realize that it was a recognized descriptor.

  28. “You know more about the foundation than you know about anything concerning Donald Trump’s wealth, his business, his tax returns,” Clinton said.

    Thank you Hillary! Now if there is anyone with integrity and intelligence left in politics and the media can they please start investigating the one person in this race that needs to be investigated the most! In case they are too out of it to grasp my meaning, I’ll be plain, his name is Donald Trump.

    As for Jupiter, the science deniers probably believe that we don’t have any spacecraft capable of flying around Jupiter or landing on Mars…and certainly not the moon! This is for them. I think we need to get the hippies back:

     

  31. Jamie, how come national dog day is also Women’s Equality Day?  is there a message there from the day designators?

  32. Not sure about the reasoning behind the Dog Day Holiday, but the Women’s Equality Day honors the passage of the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote.  Do dogs need an amendment as well?

     

  34. Mika this morning was practically in tears and in the condition I was in yesterday, but I imagine her feelings of betrayal by Trump were deeper than mine since the Morning Joe crowd had boosted him and slashed at Hillary right from the beginning.  Mika finally came smack dab up against the foul racism that Trump won’t really repudiate.

     

  35. Jamie, mika also was still smarting from this

    cnn money

    On Monday morning he trained his Twitter fire at the MSNBC show “Morning Joe,” formerly one of his favorite places to campaign.

    Trump criticized “Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski in highly personal terms, calling her “off the wall, a neurotic and not very bright mess!”

    He also implied that Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough have been secretly dating. He called them “two clowns.”

  36. cbs news John McCain’s primary opponent suggests he might die in office

    State Sen. Kelli Ward, who’s challenging veteran GOP Sen. John McCain, has a new pitch for voters in Arizona: vote for me because my 79-year-old opponent might die in office.

    “I’m a doctor,” Ward said in an interview with Politico. “The life expectancy of the American male is not 86. It’s less.”

  37. cbs news: Maine governor leaves profanity-laced voicemail for Democratic lawmaker

    …LePage continued his tirade against Gattine in an interview with reporters about the incident, suggesting he would like to “duel” the lawmaker and point his gun “right between the eyes.”

    [….]

    Gattine has called for LePage to receive counseling, telling reporters that this is not the first time LePage has crossed a line.

    “Every time you think the governor’s crossed the line, he sets another line and crosses it again. I mean, it is—we all know that Maine’s a wonderful place full of wonderful people, and it’s awful and embarrassing that this is the message and this is what people are seeing about what Maine politics are like. There’s no other politician in Maine, Republican or Democratic or independent … who would ever do these kinds of things and say these kinds of things.”

     

    evidently rep. gattine hasn’t been to any of the drumpf’s rallies.

  38. I’m sure the blast they got from the audience on Friday when Joe went off on one of his tirades calling Hillary everything except late for dinner leading off with “Pathetic” while blurting virtually every right wing talking point about the falsehoods from the AP article.  So I really blew my stack and lead off with his word.  Most of the time I try to be nice and well behaved unless you push my prejudice of any kind button.  Then this happens … sorry.

    “Are your REALLY a PATHETIC and disgusting, miserable, vicious, little hideous example of human flesh? REALLY?”

    And judging by the other messages hitting his page, I definitely was not alone. In any case he wasn’t there this morning except in prerecorded form.

     

  39. PatD, when Bozo calls you a clown it’s hard to know whether it’s a compliment or a slur.

  40. mediamatters:

    Maddow opened the August 25 edition of her program by blasting Trump over a Wall Street Journal survey that revealed that no former CEA members would state support for the GOP nominee. Maddow reported that while this “very diverse group” of 45 economists had served eight different presidents — including five Republicans — “the one thing they all have in common is that not a single one of them supports Donald Trump for president.”

  45. The fairy tale beats the tall tales that the Clinton supporters are spinning.  Gotta love Hillary banging the drum about Trumpet’s taxes to redirect from her filthy lies.  They cry foul about Trump’s treatment of the Kahns, yet they say horrible things about the Benghazi mom.  Both families lost their children in HILLARY’S WAR.   She is the devil is there ever was one.

  47. “Whew! Thank goodness those speeds and distances were translated into metric!”

     

    Tomorrow’s post is going to be in Spanish, just to piss you off.

  50. Bink

    Actually several of us can.  You might want to try Latin 🙂 … NOpe that one won’t work either .

  51. “Both families lost their children in HILLARY’S WAR.   She is the devil is there ever was one.”

     

    BID,

    For fuck sake give it a rest! It  never was Hillary’s war and never will be her war.

    You can dissemble and revise history all you want, but the blame lies entirely with a criminal administration that fought a war of choice based on fabricated evidence and the sincere belief that they could “:create their own reality”. Their reality turned out to be a cluster fuck. We weren’t greeted as liberators in Iraq or anywhere else.. There are people to blame for that but it damn sure is not Hillary!

  56. BID

    I love you but would you please eject whatever has taken over your normal sane persona.

     

  57. please don’t feed the trolls…

     

    flatus and granny- thank you , it is a bit easier the last few days- much less of those breath grabbing moments. real bad timing – should have been sitting around eating bonbons instead of making them..

    jamie, pat- yesterday morning was surprising.  i never felt that it really was trump calling hillary a bigot that brought mica to tears – i immediately attributed it to trumps recent comments about her and joe.  she was in tears- never figured she’d shed a tear for hillary just her herself and whatever stress the accusations created for the 2 of them.  her following interview with hillary, although softened from some in the past, still included stupid, audacious questions.  hillary was very gracious and killed her with kindness.

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