Space Policy Edition #2: Why Juno? Why Jupiter? Why Now?

Jason Callahan, Casey Dreier and Mat Kaplan of the Planetary Society return with another in-depth conversation about the politics and policies of space exploration. This month they ask whether the Moon vs. Mars human destination debate makes sense, examine a new report on CubeSats by the National Academies, and explain how a thrilling planetary science mission like Juno gets a thumbs up from NASA. It’s a complex but effective ordeal.

A new episode of Space Policy Edition will be posted on the first Friday of each month. Let us know what you think about our topics and our approach! Comment on this page or write to [email protected].

Additional Reading/References:

• Why it's time to go back to the Moon, Loren Grush, The Verge
• Moon Over Mars: Why US Needs a Lunar Mission First, Leroy Chiao & Elliot Pulham, Space Foundation
• Achieving Science with CubeSats: Thinking Inside the Box—A report by the National Academies
• NASA’s New Frontiers Program
• NASA’s Discovery Program
• Data Dump: NASA's Planetary Science Program By the Numbers
• New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy [pdf] (the first planetary science decadal survey)