Juno Spacecraft to Fly Close to Europa

Sep 24, 2022 | Daily Space, Europa, Juno, Jupiter, Spacecraft

Juno Spacecraft to Fly Close to Europa
IMAGE: Juno’s extended mission includes flybys of the moons Ganymede, Europa, and Io. This graphic depicts the spacecraft’s orbits of Jupiter – labeled “PJ” for perijove, or point of closest approach to the planet – from its prime mission in gray to the 42 orbits of its extended mission in shades of blue and purple. CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI

Also coming up next week, but with much less fanfare than the DART mission, NASA’s Juno spacecraft will make a close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Europa. The pass will happen on Thursday, September 29, at 10:36 UTC during perijove 45, or the 45th orbit of Jupiter. The closest approach to Europa will be about 358 kilometers, about as close as Galileo flew back in 2000. Deputy mission manager John Bordi notes: The relative velocity between spacecraft and moon will be 23.6 kilometers per second, so we are screaming by pretty fast.

One of the goals of this pass, which is taking place as a part of Juno’s extended mission, is to collect high-resolution images of the moon and collect data about the surface, the interior, and the ionosphere. Europa is important in the search for life beyond Earth, as evidence shows that under the thick icy surface is a salty, warm liquid ocean… that has the potential to support life. Two of the instruments on board Juno are specifically tasked with searching for possible water plumes erupting from Europa’s surface.

We’re hoping the mission has the right amount of luck necessary to capture that data along with what we’re sure will be amazing images. As always, we’ll bring you the results as soon as they are available.

More Information

NASA JPL press release

0 Comments

Got Podcast?

365 Days of Astronomy LogoA community podcast.

URL * RSS * iTunes

Astronomy Cast LogoTake a facts-based journey.

URL * RSS * iTunes * YouTube

Visión Cósmica LogoVisión Cósmica

URL * RSS

Escape Velocity Space News LogoEscape Velocity Space News
New website coming soon!
YouTube

Become a Patron!
CosmoQuest and all its programs exist thanks the generous donations of people like you! Become a patron & help plan for the future while getting exclusive content.