Jupiter

Jupiter
Galaxy:	Milky Way Galaxy
System:	Sol system
Sector:	Alpha Quadrant
Suns:	1
Moons:	63 (4 Galilean)
Residents:	Jovians
Points of interest:	Io; Callisto; Europa; Ganymede

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass slightly less than one-thousandth of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Together, these four planets are sometimes referred to as the Jovian planets.

Doctor Who

Jupiter made minor appearances in the various Doctor Who franchises. At some point in the 21st century, the reptilian capitalist Josiah W. Dogbolter, CEO of Intra-Venus, Inc. claimed ownership to the planet Jupiter, as well as Mars and Venus.

At another point in time, the entire planet was terraformed by the alien conquerors known as the Daleks. Following the terraforming, Jupiter ceased to be a gas giant and became a Class-M planet.

On a separate occasion, a bunker from the former "Planet of Gold" known as Voga drifted into Jupiter's orbit. It eventually took up geonsyncrhonous orbit and became a new moon known as Neo-Phobus.

In another instance, a space station in orbit around Jupiter was quarantined after it had been infected by a space plague. Robotic service droids called Disenfectodroid began the process of removing all garbage and debris from the station, depositing it on a populated, alien planet (much to the chagrin of that world's native populace). Unfortunately, the Disenfectodroids performed above their standard functions, and began cleansing the station of its human occupants as well. The Doctor, accompanied by Rose Tyler came to the station to correct the situation, only to be transported to the surface of the planet as well. When they returned to the Jupiter station, they destroyed many of the Disenfectodroids and made certain that the remaining robots fulfilled the strict functions of their programming. Afterward, the quarantine was lifted.

Outer Limits (1995)

A spacecraft led by scientist Doctor Eric Nodel and consisting of his students/volunteers pass through the Sol system and sails close to Jupiter's orbit.

Space Odyssey

Jupiter is one of the primary settings of Arthur C. Clarke's "Space Odyssey" series of novels as well as the films 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact. In 2001, scientists stationed at Clavius Base on Earth's moon discover an ancient extraterrestrial Monolith producing electromagnetic radiation, which ultimately alerts them to the existence of a similar Monolith located in Jupiter's orbit. A top secret mission is undertaken and astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole are tasked with journeying to Jupiter aboard the Discovery One spacecraft. The journey is frought with peril as the ship's onboard computer intelligence, the HAL 9000, goes rogue and attempts to kill both Bowman and Poole. Poole is believed to be killed and Bowman is forced to complete the journey on his own. When he reaches Jupiter, he encounters the Monolith, which prompts a catalyst affect, transforming him into an immortal, highly evolved being - far removed from baseline humanity. Ten years later, a second mission is undertaken to determine the fate of the Discovery One and its crew. Scientists Heywood R. Floyd, Walter Curnow and Sivasubramanian Chandrasegarampillai embark upon the Alexei Leonov and fly to Jupiter. The alien intelligences behind the Monoliths reveal that a form of aquatic life exists beneath the ice shelf of Jupiter's sixth moon, Europa. In order to nudge the evolutionary life cycle of these creatures, the Jupiter Monolith, code-named TMA-2, replicates itself, producing millions of smaller Monoliths, which cover the surface of Jupiter. The Monoliths create a fision effect, which transforms the gas giant into a mini-sun, thus enabling life on Europa to flourish. Bowman, whose essence has merged with TMA-2, broadcasts a warning via the HAL 9000:

ALL THESE WORLDS

ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE
USE THEM TOGETHER

USE THEM IN PEACE

Jupiter continued to function as a small star, and life forms flourished on Europa and continued to thrive even as late as the year 20,001.

Stargate

In the continuity of the Stargate SG-1 television series, Jupiter played a vital role in the rescue of Stargate Command officers Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c. O'Neill and Teal'c had been test-flying an upgraded USAF fighter plane, the X-301 Interceptor, which had been retrofitted with Goa'uld technology. A mishap occurred and the X-301 was shunted millions of miles into our space, taking up position a short distance from Jupiter. Major Samantha Carter stayed in contact with the pilots and provided them with a plan to slingshot around Jupiter, using it's gravity to provide them with extra thrust. Though a sound strategy, the plan fails and O'Neill and Teal'c are forced to find an alternate means of returning home.

Star Trek

The United Federation of Planets maintained several outposts and stations around or near the orbit of Jupiter. One of the more commercial ventures found in this vicinity was the Jupiter Mining Corporation. The nature of the business' mining prospects remains unknown, but they did maintain offices aboard Deep Space Nine.

One of the Federation bases was Jupiter Station, a service and repair outpost in Jupiter's orbit. The Vulcan security officer Tuvok was stationed at this base during the mid-2360s. Another occupant of the station was MACO Corporal J. McKenzie who fulfilled a six-week tour of duty on Jupiter Station. During this time, the station suffered periodic failures with the gravity plating, and McKenzie was forced to operate in a zero gravity environment.

Starship Troopers

The Terran Federation capital ship, the Rodger Young, commanded by Captain Deladier and piloted by Zander Barcalow and Carmen Ibanez journeyed past Jupiter on their way to the space station Ticonderoga. It was here that Ibanez made the decision to become a career military officer once she satisfied the terms of her Federal service. She made a video recording of her plans and sent them to her boyfriend, Mobile Infantry cadet Johnny Rico.

Satellites

Natural satellites

Jupiter has 63 named natural satellites. Of these, 47 are less than 10 kilometres in diameter and have only been discovered since 1975.

Galilean moons

The Galilean moons, compared to Earth's Moon
Name	Diameter		Mass		Orbital radius		Orbital period
	km	%	kg	%	km	%	days	%
Io	3643	105	8.9×1022	120	421,700	110	1.77	7
Europa	3122	90	4.8×1022	65	671,034	175	3.55	13
Ganymede	5262	150	14.8×1022	200	1,070,412	280	7.15	26
Callisto	4821	140	10.8×1022	150	1,882,709	490	16.69	61

Orbital satellites

Great Red Spot

The Great Red Spot (GRS) is a persistent anticyclonic storm, 22° south of Jupiter's equator, which has lasted for at least 180 years and possibly as long as 345 years or more. The storm is large enough to be visible through Earth-based telescopes. The GRS rotates counterclockwise, with a period of about six Earth days or 14 Jovian days. Its dimensions are 24–40,000 km west–to–east and 12–14,000 km south–to–north. The spot is large enough to contain two or three planets the size of Earth. At the start of 2004, the Great Red Spot had approximately half the longitudinal extent it had a century ago, when it was 40,000 km in diameter.

Jupiter Station

In the Star Trek mythos, Jupiter Station was as a space station constructed by Starfleet and was positioned in orbit around Jupiter. Constructed primarily for maintenance and repair work, it was built some prior to the year 2151 and was still in use as late as 2370.

TMA-2

TMA-2 is the classification ascribed to the alien Monolith in orbit about Jupiter. The term is short for Tycho Magnetic Anomoly number 2, and is the second such Monolith discovered following the one found in the Tycho crater on Earth's moon. The name is actually a misnomer, since Jupiter has nothing in common with Tycho crater, nor did this device produce the same field of electromagnetic radiation as TMA-1. TMA-2 was larger in size than its predecessor, and was responsible for merging the essence of astronaut Dave Bowman with that of the HAL 9000 artificial intelligence. TMA-2 also replicated millions of similar, smaller Monoliths across the surface of Jupiter, prompting a fusion effect that transformed the gas giant into a mini-sun.

Films that take place on or near Jupiter

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)
• Invasion of the Empire of the Apes
• Outland (1981)

Novels that take place on or near Jupiter

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• 3001: The Final Odyssey

Notes & Trivia

• Anything of or pertaining to the planet Jupiter is said to be Jovian.
• The volcano known as Mount Jupiter from the "The Bride of Darkseid (Part 1)" episode of the Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show TV series is named after Jupiter.
• There is a town in the U.S. state of Florida named Jupiter, which was the provincial setting for American Horror Story: Freak Show.

External Links

• Jupiter at Wikipedia
• Jupiter at Memory Alpha
• Jupiter at the Stargate Wiki
• Jupiter at the Doctor Who Wiki

References

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