Jakarta –
NASA reportedly will investigate the source of volcanic activity on the planet Jupiter’s satellite, Io. This investigation is a series of the Juno mission, which is NASA’s research for Jupiter.
This was stated by NASA’s Chief Investigator for the Juno mission, Scott J. Bolton. He explained that the Juno mission would release a probe to make the closest flight to Jupiter’s satellite, Io. This flight is the closest spacecraft flight to Jupiter’s satellite Io for more than 20 years.
“With our two close flybys in December and February, Juno will investigate the source of massive volcanic activity on Jupiter’s satellite Io. Whether there is a magma ocean beneath its crust, and the importance of tidal forces from Jupiter, which are devoid of “stop pressing this tormented moon,” Bolton said in an official NASA publication as reported on Friday (29/12/2023).
NASA’s spacecraft will eventually reach a distance of 1,500 km from the surface of Io. With this distance, NASA hopes that the instruments carried by the Juno mission spacecraft can produce some data.
This mission to approach Io at a fairly close distance will be carried out twice on December 30, 2023 and February 3, 2024.
Previously, the spacecraft was 11,000 km from Io’s surface. From that distance NASA obtained initial sensing results of Io. There is a description of the north and south poles of Io. Apart from that, the Juno mission’s spacecraft also got an overview of the icy satellites of the planet Jupiter such as Ganymede and Europa.
This JunoCam image of Jupiter’s moon Io captures a plume of material ejected from the Prometheus volcano (which is not visible). Indicated with a red arrow. Image taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft on October 15. Photo: NASA
Currently, the Juno mission is in its third year and aims to investigate the origins of the planet Jupiter. This mission focuses on exploring Jupiter’s ring system, which contains several of the planet’s satellites and gas elements, including Io.
In the Juno mission, NASA has a camera that can take infrared sensing called Junocam which is equipped with Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) technology. Sensing with JIRAM collected various heat signatures on Jupiter’s surface.
NASA’s spacecraft on this mission will carry three Junocams that will be active during its flyby of Io. Junocam is designed to operate up to eight flybys of Jupiter.
Juno Mission Manager Ed Hirst predicts that the flight to Io will be the most radiation-heavy environment in the solar system. He also revealed that his team on the Juno mission would look for solutions that could minimize damage to Junocam due to radiation.
“The cumulative effect of all this radiation has begun to appear on JunoCam in the last few orbits. Our engineering team has been working to find solutions to reduce radiation damage and keep imaging running,” he said.
*) This article was written by Argya D. Maheswara, participant in the Merdeka Campus Certified Internship Program at detikcom.
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2023-12-29 15:10:52
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