Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
By Jupiter, it’s big
HORIZON BBC2, 9pm
JUPITER is a mysterious swirling mass that just happens to be the biggest planet in the solar system. It’s a “monster”, reveals the dramatic narration.
Prepare for some mind-boggling science as NASA boffins explain how they journeyed into the heart of a giant, peering through Jupiter’s clouds to find what lies beneath.
And yes, it does all feel a bit like one of those heart-stopping space movies as they prepare to head into the unknown.
“Everything about Jupiter is on steroids,” says Scott Bolton, head of NASA’S Juno mission to explore the inside of the planet.
“Its radiation is the worst, its magnetic field is the strongest, it’s spinning the fastest.
“To send a spacecraft there is a little bit insane. We had to build an armoured tank.”
What follows is some stunning images and interviews with various professors and scientists.
NASA’S Heidi Becker explains: “My job on Juno has always been to be afraid of Jupiter. I think of
Jupiter as something that’s attacking us and throwing its weapons at us.”
Meanwhile, Professor Kaitlin Kratter heads to a quarry to use rocks to demonstrate just how big Jupiter is. Mercury is just one kilo, while Earth is 17kgs, compared to Jupiter, which is the size of a seven tonne truck. And Professor Andrew Ingersoll, Juno’s space weatherman, reveals they’ve seen lightning on Jupiter, perhaps a thousand times more powerful than Earth’s lightning.
And as they look deeper into the planet, things get stranger still, with talk of storms that could swallow the Earth whole.
Don’t book a holiday there...