The "Keep Galileo's Eyes Open" petition has now gathered 700 signatures! Galileo's Extended Millenium Mission will include three flybys of the volcanic moon Io, including the last chance for decades to image the Jupiter-facing hemisphere of Io at high resolution. So far, crude Voyager maps of this hemisphere are the best we have, and these show significant differences from the anti-Jovian hemisphere. As at the Moon, Mars, Iapetus and possibly Mercury, only having half the picture hamstrings our understanding of this fascinating world, whose high-temperature "koomatite" volcanoes are a window into Earth's turbulent adolescense. Unfortunately, in order to save $1.5 mn - a thousandth of Galileo's cost and 0.01% of NASA's annual budget - it was decided not to fund imaging on this final slingshot, I33. An e-mail from NASA Headquarters told the team operating Galileo's camera, one of the most successful scientific instruments ever flown, that NASA "was not interested in hearing Galileo [team] members continue to plead their case". So it's up to us. Planetary protection concerns dictate Galileo destruction by controlled collision with Jupiter shortly after I33. No further missions to the Jupiter system are funded. No missions to Io are even planned. Io is resurfaced so rapidly that it may look very different to the probes of our grandchildren. We should start complete our baseline data--set for understanding this world now, while Galileo gives us this golden opportunity. Galileo has endured a radiation hail many times more intense than its design "limit". Twelve years after its launch, it is still returning priceless science from the edge of known space. But it cannot survive the garotting of its budget back here on Earth. The "Keep Galileo's Eyes Open" petition may be signed at http://home.earthlink.net/~volcanopele/ (no pop-up adverts) http://fullspeed.to/io (alternate site, pop-up adverts) It is hoped that 1,000 signatures can be collected by August 6th, the date of the next Io flyby. Edwin Kite
Io petition Fellas, our money was spent to put it there with your hard work. If beans were to be counted they should have been done long ago, not now after it is there. If cuts are to be made now, make them on projects that are being designed for future use. This one is already there and we won't have another chance for this one. I sent the above message on this petition. I am a great fan of space pictures and exploration. To cut something already there is like buying shoes and then amputating a foot. I would hope that other members of this forum would sign this petition. If any have enjoyed the pictures in some of my posts then you owe it to yourself to do so.
