NASA’s Jupiter-observing spacecraft just got a rare shot of an icy world.
The Juno probe made the closest pass in 22 years jupiterthe frozen moon europe on Thursday (Sept. 29), offering NASA’s best view of the ocean world the Galileo spacecraft flew there in 2000.
Just 352 kilometers (219 miles) above Europa’s surface, the two-hour flyby was one of the three closest views of the icy world. The last similar sighting we received was on January 3, 2000 with Galileo, officials with NASAThe Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California said in a statement.
“Rugged terrain features are easily seen, including tall boulders that cast shadows, while bright, dark ridges and troughs curve the surface. The oblong pit near the terminator could be a weathered impact crater” , JPL officials. wrote about the Juno flyby images (opens in a new tab) on Thursday (September 29).
Video: NASA reveals the most amazing view of Jupiter’s moon Europa
While geology data from the flyby is starting to come in, officials called Juno’s rare appearance key to establishing observations for NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission, which will launch in just two years to study the frozen moon
“Europa Clipper will study the Moon’s atmosphere, surface and interior, with its primary science goal being to determine whether there are places beneath Europa’s surface that could support life,” JPL said of the mission, which is scheduled to reach the Jupiter system next year. 2030
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This raw image of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa was captured by the Juno spacecraft during a flyby on September 29, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/SWRI/MSSS)
NASA’s Juno spacecraft got a close-up look at Jupiter’s moon Europa on September 29, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SWRI/MSSS)As the sixth largest moon of the solar systemEurope is similar in size to landthe moon, but it has a very different formation and evolutionary history. Europa has a massive icy crust over an ocean that researchers believe may be capable of supporting Earth-like life.
During its flyby, Juno collected some of the highest-resolution images of the moon at 0.6 miles, or 1 km, per pixel, JPL said, along with information about the environment, atmosphere, surface and ‘inner structure of the moon.
In pictures: Chaos reigns in detailed views of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa
“The science team will be looking to see if Europa’s surface features have changed over the past two decades,” said Candy Hansen, a Juno co-investigator who leads planning for JunoCam (which obtained the images) at the Institute of Planetary Science. in Tucson, Arizona.
Data from Juno’s Microwave Radiometer instrument could be especially important for future missions like Clipper, as it may help identify some potentially habitable liquid water “pockets” just beneath the massive ice sheet.
Scientists used the flyby to slightly change Juno’s trajectory, as it is now scheduled to make a single orbit of Jupiter in 38 Earth days (up from 43 previously). I are expected in 2023 and 2024, if the mission can continue to survive the intense radiation belts near Jupiter.
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