Juno spacecraft's closest flyby of Jupiter’s Moon in two decades Saturday
Coming within roughly 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the surface of the most volcanic world in our solar system, the pass is expected to allow Juno instruments to generate a firehose of data. Read More
[This image revealing the north polar region of the Jovian moon Io was taken on October 15 by NASA’s Juno. Three of the mountain peaks visible in the upper part of image, near the day-night dividing line, were observed here for the first time by the spacecraft’s JunoCam. (Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Image processing by Ted Stryk)]
Washington: US Space agency NASA's Juno spacecraft is set to make a historic flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io which is the closest encounter that any mission has had in the last 20 years.
Coming within roughly 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the surface of the most volcanic world in our solar system, the pass is expected to allow Juno instruments to generate a firehose of data, NASA said in a report.
“By combining data from this flyby with our previous observations, the Juno science team is studying how Io’s volcanoes vary,” said Juno’s Principal Investigator, Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.
“We are looking for how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, how the shape of the lava flow changes, and how Io’s activity is connected to the flow of charged particles in Jupiter’s magnetosphere", he added.
NASA's Juno spacecraft has been closely observing Io’s volcanic activity from distances ranging between 6,830 miles (11,000 kilometres) to over 62,100 miles (100,000 kilometres) during its previous encounters in the month of May as well as July. The spacecraft has also shared the very first views of the north and south poles of the moons.
The Juno spacecraft has earlier performed close flybys of Jupiter’s icy moons Ganymede and Europa.
“With our pair of close flybys in December and February, Juno will investigate the source of Io’s massive volcanic activity, whether a magma ocean exists underneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter, which are relentlessly squeezing this tortured moon,” said Bolton.
Planet Jupiter has a total of 95 recognised moons, including Io, Europa and Ganymede.
Juno's next close flyby
The next close flyby of Io is due to take place on Feb 3, 2024, in which Juno will again come within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometres) of the surface.
“With our pair of close flybys in December and February, Juno will investigate the source of Io’s massive volcanic activity, whether a magma ocean exists underneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter, which are relentlessly squeezing this tortured moon,” said Bolton.
Now in the third year of its extended mission to investigate the origin of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft will also explore the ring system where some of the gas giant’s inner moons reside.
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