What is the purpose of space exploration to Jupiter?
Jupiter is the most extreme planet in our solar system, size and mass wise, and was very important in the formation of our solar system and allowing life to flourish on Earth. Besides that, it has a large number of very different moons with very different environments.
We could (and already have) found phenomena on Jupiter we couldn’t have even imagined before, and studying them gives us a better understanding of science.
By learning more about other planets, we learn more about ourselves. For examples, the great Carl Sagan’s study of Venus in the 1970’s truly kicked off the science of climate change and an understanding of the greenhouse effect on our own Earth. By studying the structure and movement of magnetosphere a around other bodies, we better understand how to protect our communication satellites from solar flares and stellar winds.
And of course, there is the scientific advancements which come from finding out even how to explore Jupiter. Many of the modern day technologies we take for granted nowadays, came out of scientific discoveries from space exploration. The MRI, for example — perhaps the single most important piece of advanced medical technology ever developed, was invented by a physician physicist working on discoveries made by astrophysicists figuring out how to measure the hydrogen gas in between our solar system and other star systems.
