Jupiter
Position on the route: 11/45 · level needed 75 · journey (Mk0 engine) 16.4 h
By the numbers
| Diameter | 139,820 km |
|---|---|
| Mass | 318 Earths |
| Day | 9 h 56 min |
| Year | 11.9 Earth years |
| Composition | 90 % H₂, 10 % He |
| Moons | 95 known |
The story
It has two and a half times the mass of all the other planets together. It has no surface: hydrogen turns first liquid and then metallic with depth. The Great Red Spot is a storm larger than Earth that has turned for over 300 years.
Its magnetic field is about 20 times Earth’s, and its belts carry lethal radiation. A colony at Jupiter can therefore only be an orbital station, and needs good shielding. Galileo (1995) released a probe into the atmosphere, which answered for 58 minutes.
Missions
- Pioneer 10 (1973): the first flyby
- Galileo (1995–2003): an orbiter and an atmospheric probe
- Juno (2016–): polar orbit, interior structure
- JUICE and Europa Clipper: to the ice moons
Colony note
A gas giant: an orbital station (Orbital habitat research). Because of the radiation, a Mk3 shield. Hydrogen and helium-3 are plentiful.
☠ A gas giant: no surface to land on and a lethal radiation belt. With the orbital-habitat research and a strong shield a station is built.
What probes bring back
- The Great Red Spot is a storm turning for over 300 years, bigger than Earth.
- Juno (2016–) measured a magnetic field some 20 times Earth’s from orbit.