In article ,
Larry G wrote:
Here's a question I've always wondered about. How come no space probe (that
I'm aware of) has taken photos inside Jupiter's (or any of the large
planets') atmosphere?

Because there has only ever been one probe into Jupiter's atmosphere --
the Galileo atmosphere probe -- and various design limitations (not least,
the fact that it was built with early-1970s electronics) made a camera
impossible there.

Or at least photos from a very low orbit.

Very low Jupiter orbits tend to involve very high radiation doses and are
most unhealthy for electronics. The only probe that has really passed low
over Jupiter was Pioneer 11, which made one quick flyby; it had only a
very simple camera system, and didn't get many pictures, especially from
high-radiation areas where the camera kept having to be reset.

Both Galileo and its probe passed through such altitudes on their way into
Jupiter, of course, but the probe had no camera and Galileo's antenna
problems prevented real-time image transmission during its last hours.

...Are there any known plans to send a probe that could
withstand the extreme temps (or gravity?) to achieve such a feat?

There is interest in doing more Jupiter atmosphere probes -- especially
since Galileo's probe, annoyingly enough, seems to have gone into a fairly
unusual area and so we're not sure how its data generalizes to Jupiter's
atmosphere as a whole -- but so far, no funded missions.
--
MOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec | Henry Spencer
pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well. |