Thursday morning NASA’s Juno spacecraftEuropa, an icy large moon orbiting the earth, was within 219 miles. Jupiter.
It is the closest human look at the frozen planet in over 20 years.
In 2011, the Juno mission was launched to study Jupiter, which is the largest planet in our solar system.
The Juno team successfully completed the primary mission in 2021. They used the probe to study Jupiter’s moons including Europa, Ganymede and Io.
Juno captured high-resolution images and made critical observations about Europa during Thursday’s flyby.
Juno’s visit follows NASA’s Galileo spacecraftThis was the last time that he flew over Europa in 2000.
“This is only a small glimpse of the amazing science that Juno’s whole suite of sensors and instruments can produce. We have skimmed through a lot of data. The moonScott Bolton, Juno principal investigator and chief investigator, stated in a Press release
Thursday afternoon saw the first raw images of Juno’s close approach towards Europa beam back to Earth.
These new snapshots provide valuable insights into the frozen world, as well as decades-old images from the Galileo spacecraft.
Europa, two decades after our last visit
The spacecraft flew 219 miles above the surface to make its closest approach towards Europa at 5:36 AM ET
Juno was shadowed by Europa, but the sun reflected off Jupiter provided sufficient light to allow the probe’s camera capture images.
Galileo took the above image in 1997. It is an image that shows Europa’s approximate natural color.
Above right is an image of Juno’s Juno probe, looking towards Europa on September 29th. Both images depict long linear cracks as well as ridges running across the moon’s surface.
Researchers will be able to compare the new images with Europa images from previous missions, which could reveal how Europa has changed over time.
“The science team will compare the complete set of Juno images with images from other missions, looking for changes in Europa’s surface features over the past 20 years,” Candy Hansen (a Juno coinvestigator) said in a statement. Hansen is also responsible for JunoCam’s visible-light camera planning. Press release.
“The JunoCam images will replace the existing low-resolution coverage in the area and fill in the current geologic maps.”
Europa’s ice shell is believed to be between 10-15 miles thick.
Astronomers believe there is a salty ocean beneath its thick icy crust. This is a significant discovery in our quest for life beyond Earth. Liquid water is an essential ingredient for all living organisms.
Juno is equipped by powerful instruments that can see beneath Europa’s Ice crust to gather data on its composition, temperature, and other details. NASA.
You can see Europa’s surface is cracked along its icy exterior in the close-up photo above.
Missions in the pastThey saw plumes of watervapor rising from the frozen shell. Scientists hope to have captured plumes from Europa’s surface, although the Juno team is still processing images of Thursday’s flyby.
Juno’s learnings from the flyby could help inform future missions. NASA’s Europa Clipper probeThe ice-cold ocean research vessel ‘Spacecraft X’, which will launch in 2024, is designed to collect more data about the ocean below its icy crust and how it interacts to the surface.
“Thanks ingenuity and skill of the navigation team Juno’s trajectory was adjusted so that it crossed the Jovian Moon’s orbit at just the right moment. This gave us valuable data for Europa Clipper!” Gregory Dubos was the Europa Clipper mission’s systems engineer. Tweeted on Thursday
This mission could help scientists discover if there is an ocean in the interior and if it has the potential for being habitable.
This article was first published by Business Insider.
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