Could You Stand on Jupiter?

Imagine your spacecraft has reached Jupiter. You pull on your spacesuit, open the door and prepare to step onto the planet.

There's just one rather enormous problem.

There isn't a solid surface waiting for your boots.

Jupiter is a gas giant. Its outer layers are made mostly from hydrogen and helium, rather than the solid rock beneath our feet on Earth.

As you travelled deeper into Jupiter, the pressure would become enormous. The hydrogen would be squeezed into increasingly strange forms, eventually behaving very differently from the gas we're familiar with.

Scientists think Jupiter may have a dense core deep inside, although understanding exactly what lies at its centre is still an active area of research.

You wouldn't get anywhere near it.

Jupiter also has powerful winds, gigantic storms and crushing pressures. Its famous Great Red Spot is an enormous storm that has been observed for centuries.

So astronauts can't simply land on Jupiter, plant a flag and look around.

Spacecraft can study the planet from above instead. NASA's Juno spacecraft, for example, has helped scientists investigate Jupiter's atmosphere, gravity and interior.

The answer: You couldn't stand on Jupiter the way you can stand on Earth, Mars or the Moon.

Sometimes exploring a world doesn't mean landing on it at all.

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