The Juno Space Probe: Science, Myth and Metaphor in the Dust Clouds of Jupiter
Hmmm, will the wonders unveiled by the historic voyage of the Juno space probe be as much allegorical in nature as scientific?
Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on August 5, 2011? I wish I could say that I do. But my memory is nowhere near that good. Why do I ask? Because that is the day NASA’s Juno space probe launched for what would be an epic, five year, 2.8 billion kilometre journey to Jupiter.
The solar powered Juno probe had to be sling-shot around the earth to gather the necessary speed for the marathon journey. The science behind that manoeuvre is far beyond my comprehension. But I rather like the image and the metaphorical possibilities it conjures.
The cost of the Juno mission is a whopping $1.1 billion. What makes that figure all the more significant is that the success of the mission hinged on a delicate manoeuvre when the probe finally reached the giant planet. NASA engineers had to guide Juno through a metaphorical keyhole to avoid the worst of Jupiter’s radiation belt and a field of space rocks.
If that does not sound challenging enough, consider that it takes 48 minutes for light – and therefore communications – to get from earth to Jupiter. NASA therefore had to program the manoeuvre ahead of time with no opportunity for last minute adjustments
As a spinner of tales and crafter of metaphors, I could not resist exploring the mythology around the probe’s name and mission. Let’s start with Jupiter itself. Jupiter was the mythological god of the sky and thunder and the king of the gods.
Greco Roman mythology tells us that Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. But his wife, the goddess Juno – protector and counsellor of the state, was able to peer through the clouds and see Jupiter’s true nature.
Back to the science. Juno’s mission is now to orbit Jupiter for up to twenty months to learn everything possible about its interior and atmosphere including its swirling clouds and northern and southern lights. At the end of that period, it will succumb to Jupiter’s inhospitable environment and be directed to dive into Jupiter’s crushing centre and be destroyed.
The case can be made, by those of us more oriented to myth and metaphor, that Juno’s mission – aside from its scientific mandate – is to be a billion dollar metaphor playing out the myth of the king of the gods and his all-seeing goddess wife.
Science and myth, fact and fiction, technology and metaphor will mirror each other’s orbit for twenty fascinating months around the largest of the planets in our solar system. A journey of discovery in more ways than one.
~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .
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