NASA’s Juno probe is preparing NASA To explore the giant planet’s third major moon, the mysterious volcanic moon Io, after exploring Jupiter’s moons Ganymede and Europa, where Juno, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, was ordered by NASA’s control teams to photograph Io, which is the most volcanically active object in the entire solar system.
Io, which is roughly the size of Earth’s moon, will remain at the Juno outpost for the next year and a half as the probe makes a total of nine flybys of the moon, two of which will bring the probe within 930 miles (1,500 kilometers ) of the moon.
According to the “Space” website, NASA said in a statement that the flight will allow scientists to carry out the first high-resolution observation campaign of the magma-shrouded moon, study the volcanoes of Io and how volcanic eruptions interact with the powerful magnetosphere of Jupiter aurora.
Juno has already glimpsed Io. In June 2022, the probe passed the moon at a distance of about 50,000 miles (80,000 km).
Io is very different from the ice-covered moons of Ganymede and Europa, which are believed to hide oceans of water beneath their icy surfaces that scientists believe may harbor primitive life forms.
In contrast, Io’s surface is covered in lava lakes emanating from hundreds of volcanoes scattered across the lunar surface.
Some lava springs erupt at altitudes of tens of miles or kilometers, according to NASA. While Io is unlikely to harbor life, unlike Ganymede and Europa, scientists are still eager to get a detailed look at this moon.
“The team is very excited that Juno’s expanded mission will include the study of Jupiter’s moons,” Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio said in the release. new information.”
