Jupiter Orbiting Vehicle for Exploration (JOVE) - 1967

[Graham1973]

One of the more interesting results of the various NASA space engineering projects.

Designed by a team from the University of Auburn, this Saturn V launched probe, which would have been launched sometime between 1975 -1980 had it been built.

Upon arrival at Jupiter (After an 800-900 day trip, see the attached mission profile.) the 3.6 metric tonne orbiter would have entered an initial eliptical polar orbit with a perijove of no less than 7 Jupiter radii that following checkout would have been lowered to one with a perijove of around 4 Jupiter radii.

Keeping with the view at the time that the Jovian moons would be uninteresting 'dead' worlds the instrumentation fit (See below) was biased towards particle and fields detection. While cameras were fitted they were intended primarily to photograph Jupiter itself. Power was to be supplied by eight RTGs supplying a total of 640w.

Instruments

1. Solar Wind/Flare detectors
2. Cosmic Ray detectors
3. Micrometeorite detectors
4. Magnetometers
5. Trapped radiation detectors
6. Radiometers & photometers
7. UV/Visible/IR Spectrographs
8. Wide (10º) & Narrow (1º) angle television cameras. (Resolution at 7 Jupiter Radii Wide angle (150km), Narrow Angle (35km), at 4 Jupiter Radii. 70km & 18km respectively.)

The full two volume report can be downloaded below:

https://app.box.com/s/7wd95p24t97ru6dvwdw0

 

[Michel Van]

Nice Find Graham1973

A Jupiter probe using Mars Probe Voyager Hardward and required Saturn V Rocket
This project would have just like Mars Probe Voyager a stillborn project
With price tag of billions, no way the US congress had approved this...

 

[blackstar]

Something that I have not found, but that I suspect existed, are proposals for other planetary missions that would have used the Saturn V. With so much time and effort put into Voyager, I'm sure that somebody at JPL was looking at other possible deep space missions using the Saturn V.

I did hear about an early-mid-1970s JPL study for extensive study of the Jovian system that would have included orbiters, landers, and even rovers. But I don't have any more information than that. There were a series of JPL studies done in 1974 that outlined many of the missions that NASA ultimately flew over the next 20 years, including Galileo, Magellan, and a few others.

 

[Michel Van]

Something that I have not found, but that I suspect existed, are proposals for other planetary missions that would have used the Saturn V. With so much time and effort put into Voyager, I'm sure that somebody at JPL was looking at other possible deep space missions using the Saturn V.

I did hear about an early-mid-1970s JPL study for extensive study of the Jovian system that would have included orbiters, landers, and even rovers. But I don't have any more information than that. There were a series of JPL studies done in 1974 that outlined many of the missions that NASA ultimately flew over the next 20 years, including Galileo, Magellan, and a few others.

So far i know the early study of Grand Tour probes, were also Saturn V consider even with NERVA third stage or Shuttle & Space Tug
but that same thing like JOVE and Mars Voyager, huge mastodons Spacecraft who cost billions of 1960s Dollars.
in 1970s they down sizes the Probes for launch with Titan IIIE, thanks to evolution of modern electronic and computers systems
end of 1970s NASA had ambitious Plans on Space exploration:
new Viking probes, Mars rover, Halley probe with ion engine, Solar Polar orbiter, Venus Radar orbiter VOIR, Jupiter Orbiter and many other proposal
unlucky JPL face a enemy in 1980: the Reagan Administration and slaughtering in NASA budget began...

 

[Orionblamblam]

unlucky JPL face a enemy in 1980: the Reagan Administration and slaughtering in NASA budget began...

Buh?

 

[Graham1973]

Something that I have not found, but that I suspect existed, are proposals for other planetary missions that would have used the Saturn V. With so much time and effort put into Voyager, I'm sure that somebody at JPL was looking at other possible deep space missions using the Saturn V.

Somewhere on my backup drive is another NASA systems engineering project that involved a SaturnV (INT-20)/Centaur launched probe, I've located the document, but I'll post it to a separate thread.

 

[Michel Van]

unlucky JPL face a enemy in 1980: the Reagan Administration and slaughtering in NASA budget began...

Buh?

you know the Shuttle program was eating half of NASA Budget
in same time the Reagan Administration swing the budget axe in Planetary probes program, almost killed Galileo and Hubble Space Telescope

 

[chimeric oncogene]

Was this basically JUNO's granddaddy?

 

[Graham1973]

Was this basically JUNO's granddaddy?

Concept wise yes. For a bit more context around the same period NASA was talking about the exploration of Jupiter along much the same lines as Mars, with pairs of spacecraft launched at every favorable launch opportunity. This design is one of a number of 'systems engineering' projects that NASA carried out in conjunction with various universities during the late 60s/early 70s. I've seen a Mars orbiter design from another such project which looks to be ancestral to the Mars Observer (Failed) & Mars Global Surveyor (Successful) missions in the 1990s.

I'll have to dig that one out and post it.

 

[TheKutKu]

Was this related to Nasa proposal project of joint European-American (with ESRO) Saturn V Jupiter probe circa 1964-1966?

Development costs of a Jupiter probe and of spacecraft in ESRO programme base... (ESRO-272)

Official issue : preliminary study

archives.eui.eu

Mission to Jupiter (ESRO-5394)

Official issue : information note connected with the discussion in the PLA Group

archives.eui.eu

La NASA propose aux pays européens d'entreprendre en commun une expérience spatiale de grande envergure

La N.A.S.A. vient de proposer aux pays européens de réaliser en commun une expérience spatiale à but scientifique de très grande envergure. Au nombre des projets dont l'exécution pourrait être envisagée figurent entre autres l'envoi d'une sonde aux abords de la planète Jupiter ou le lancement...

www.lemonde.fr

It was to cost $300 million of which $100 million was to be paid by ESRO

 

[Archibald]

Holly cow ! You really, really have a knack to unearth jaw-dropping proposals from the past.

That proposal is detailed a bit in the ESA history series of 1987.

 

[TheKutKu]

Holly cow ! You really, really have a knack to unearth jaw-dropping proposals from the past.

That proposal is detailed a bit in the ESA history series of 1987.

H. Moulin lists
ESRO/AF/548 7 July 1966
ESRO/C/233 14 November 1966
ESRO/C/MIN/12; 12th council
ESRO/C/MIN/14 14th council
As sources for nasa-esro negociations about it and the solar probe. I wonder if there are Documents from the NASA side

It can’t be the galactic Jupiter probes (pioneer predecessor) since that was Atlas-Centaur class.
If a SV cost ~150 million at the time (stage to Saturn said like $120 million for production; + launch cost), then that means the probe itself was going to be mainly funded by Europeans. Now knowing NASA a the time they probably just expected ESRO to foot the bill without giving them any industrial participation, so I’m not dismissing NASA just proposed something like JOVE to the Europeans.

 

[Archibald]

Mentionned in "Astronautics & aeronautics 1966"

 

[publiusr]

Spiro T. Agnew was a fan of the Saturns

Desert Sun 17 July 1969 — California Digital Newspaper Collection

California Digital Newspaper Collection

cdnc.ucr.edu

I wonder

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joseph-Agnew

I know Connolly’s son is involved in space.

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