NASA’s Jupiter spacecraft just received a rare close-up of an icy world.
The Juno probe made the closest passage in 22 years of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa on Thursday, Sept. 29, providing the view of the global ocean since NASA’s Galileo spacecraft flew through it in 2000.
Flying just 352 kilometers above the surface of Europe, the two-hour flyover between the 3 closest attractions in the icy world. The last similar view was won on January 3, 2000 with Galileo, officials from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California said in a statement.
“The features of the rugged terrain are easily visible, adding giant blocks that cast shadows, while ridges and soft, dark valleys curve over the surface. The oblong well near the terminator could be a degraded effect on the crater,” JPL officials. wrote about photographs of Juno’s flyby (opens in new tab) on Thursday (Sept. 29).
Video: NASA reveals the most amazing view ever seen on Jupiter’s moon Europa
While geological knowledge of the flyby is just beginning to arrive, officials have said Juno’s rare gaze is key to observations from NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission, which will launch in just two years to examine the icy moon.
“Europa Clipper will examine the atmosphere, surface and interior of the moon, and its primary clinical goal is to determine if there are places below Europa’s surface that may harbor life,” JPL said of the mission, which is expected to succeed in Jupiter’s formula by 2030.
As the sixth largest moon in the solar system, Europa is similar in length to Earth’s moon, but has a very different formation and evolutionary history. Europa has a large crust of ice covering an ocean that researchers say could have life similar to Earth’s.
During its flyby, Juno collected some of the highest-resolution photographs of the moon at 0. 6 miles or 1 km consistent with pixels, JPL said, such as data about the moon’s environment, atmosphere, surface and internal structure.
In pictures: chaos reigns in detailed perspectives of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa
“The science team will observe to see if Europa’s surface features have been replaced over the past two decades,” said Candy Hansen, Juno co-investigator who leads plans to create JunoCam (which received the images) at the Planetary Science Institute. . in Tucson, Arizona.
Knowledge of Juno’s microwave radiometer may be vital for long-term missions like Clipper, as it can identify some potentially habitable “pockets” of liquid water just below the massive ice sheet.
Scientists used the flyby to slightly adjust Juno’s trajectory, as it is now planned to make a single orbit of Jupiter in 38 Earth days (compared to the last 43). Flybys of the Jovian volcanic moon Io are expected in 2023 and 2024, if the project can continue to the intense radiation belts near Jupiter.
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Elizabeth Howell, Ph. D. , has been the air chain’s staff editor since 2022. He contributed to the writing of Space. com (opens new window) for 10 years, since 2012. As a proud trekkie and Canadian, she also tackles topics such as diversity, science fiction, astronomy, and games to help others explore the universe. Reports on Elizabeth’s site include two manned spaceflight launches from Kazakhstan, 3 round-trip projects to Florida, and built-in reports of a simulated Mars. He holds a Ph. D. and M. Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Carleton University in Canada. Elizabeth has also been a postsecondary science and communication instructor since 2015. His most recent book, NASA Leadership Moments, is co-authored with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth first became interested in the area after seeing the movie Apollo Thirteen in 1996, and still needs to be an astronaut someday.
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