One of the many influences that can be felt in the world of Starfield is the real space exploration pioneered by organizations like NASA, and one side quest highlights this aspect in a unique way. The newest RPG from Bethesda Game Studios offers a somewhat grounded take on sci-fi space exploration, with concepts that draw from real space travel and spacecraft and gear that focus more on authenticity than futuristic sleekness. Although Starfield‘s story is full of new material based on a galaxy of interstellar feuding, some elements strike a little closer to home, including some direct references to NASA itself.
The megacorporation Ryujin Industries might be one of the most immediately believable entities among all the factions in Starfield, as the drive for profit feeding outsized influence and power is certainly nothing new. Many quests related to Ryujin Industries focus on this aspect of ruthless competition, tasking players with corporate espionage to further Ryujin’s interests. A particularly interesting side quest, however, involves Ryujin on a lower level, with a focus on the technology behind a spacecraft and a request for help by some company operatives.
Juno’s Gambit Takes Inspiration From A NASA Spacecraft
The side quest “Juno’s Gambit” isn’t a guaranteed encounter, as it spawns in at least a somewhat random fashion across a number of systems. When heading to Tau Ceti III, for example, an explorer could come across a mysterious ship under attack. Destroying the attacker and boarding leads to a meeting with two Ryujin Industries operatives who request assistance in dealing with what appears to be a rogue AI. Rather than an inherent part of their spacecraft, the threat comes from a NASA probe they picked up in space called Juno.
Although this intriguing side story might be fictional, there’s a real NASA probe and history behind the Starfield take on Juno. Launched in 2011, Juno is a space probe currently in orbit around the planet Jupiter that entered the orbit in 2016. With the overall mission of finding answers to “questions about the origin and evolution of Jupiter,” according to the official overview of the probe from NASA, Juno is now in an extended phase of its mission focusing on gathering additional data about Jupiter, its moons, and aspects of the surrounding environment and the planet’s faint rings. Starfield‘s Juno appears to be this same probe several hundred years in the future.
NASA’s Juno probe uses some sophisticated technology, but there’s no likely path for it to flirt with sentience in the way that the probe that appears in Starfield does. Although NASA uses AI for some aspects of the agency’s work, from data analysis to direct control of robotic technology, probes like Juno are guided by specific flight plans and operational goals. The continued use of Juno does represent a turn from the initial intent to decommission it after a year in orbit, however, which plays nicely into Starfield‘s idea of a NASA probe long outliving its original purpose.
Starfield Explains What Happened To Juno
Juno’s backstory in Starfield leaves a lot of gaps, but there’s enough there to piece together a basic narrative connecting the probe’s very real orbit of Jupiter to its new adventures in far-flung space. The exact point where Juno ceased to be a standard NASA probe and become something more complex appears to confuse the AI, which has an apparently shaky sense of self and identity. Juno is, however, aware of having once been programmed by NASA, although that programming isn’t what drives the probe by the point that it enters the lengthy Starfield story.
At some point, Juno was flung past the Sun and traveled far away from Earth’s solar system. Beyond that point, some people — “friends” — upgraded Juno to a form of artificial intelligence, although the identity of these benefactors isn’t made clear. There doesn’t seem to be any way for the real Juno to last this long, as its orbit of Jupiter has exposed it to an enormous amount of destructive radiation, although its extended mission does give it the image of a particularly plucky spacecraft.
Juno’s Gambit Also Calls Back To A Kubrick Masterpiece
Another apparent source of inspiration for “Juno’s Gambit” is the seminal sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The side quest follows 2001‘s basic concept of pitting astronauts in a lone spacecraft against a seemingly malicious AI, although Starfield places players into the shoes of an interloper attempting to seek the truth to provide a rather different perspective. The 2001 inspiration lacks the level of direct reference that connects the quest to the NASA probe Juno, but the fundamental similarities are only the latest in a litany of works that can be tied back to the film’s enormous impact on sci-fi in the 55 years since its release.
The use of the probe Juno serves the goals of Starfield‘s NASA aesthetic well, tying it closer to the history of spaceflight than 2001: A Space Odyssey‘s take. The film’s vision of the future feels incredibly ahead of its time in many ways, but the use of the now-defunct Pan Am as the transportation company didn’t pan out in the long run. Interfacing with Juno mostly involves looking at the probe’s displayed images of celestial bodies, a touch that is both less human and less inhuman than HAL 9000’s unblinking eye in 2001.
“Juno’s Gambit” may wear its inspirations on its sleeves, but it fits well into the world and storytelling of Starfield and makes for a memorable encounter. The lack of a truly consistent way to trigger the storyline might make it hard for those interested in exploring its moral quandaries to start it up immediately, but it’s best not to ignore it should it crop up. With a thoughtful connection to an actual NASA probe and a side helping of Kubrick, “Juno’s Gambit” is a Starfield side quest with a little something for everyone.
