Could the probe have be retargetted to the SL-9 impact points?
If the probe was aimed at–and entered–the SL-9 impact site, it might not have survived long enough to carry out its observations! When Mission Designers considered the probe’s mission, they realized that the probe’s speed relative to the atmosphere is minimized by having it enter near Jupiter’s equator; entering at higher latitudes would raise this relative impact speed. A lower impact speed makes it easier to design the probe (rather like it being easier to design car bumpers that pass a bashing test of 5 KM per hour rather than 15 KM per hour). Thus, the probe was designed to allow it to enter within a few degrees of the equator, with an entry speed up to 47.8 KM per second. Regardless, it was impossible to retarget the probe at the time that this question was asked. The probe, having been released, was on a purely ballistic trajectory. Also, retargetting the probe would have required a significant time-of- arrival change (hours), which would mean that the orbiter could not fly by
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- Could the probe have be retargetted to the SL-9 impact points?
