NASA’s spacecraft Juno is finest identified for the attractive photographs of Jupiter it has captured over its decade-long mission to date and the discoveries it has enabled about Jupiter’s weird climate phenomena. But it has additionally been busy learning Jupiter’s moons, together with capturing photographs of Io and Europa and capturing not solely the sights however additionally the sounds of the moon Ganymede. Now Juno will get to see Europa in much more element as it’s set to carry out a detailed flyby of the icy moon this week.

On Thursday, September 29, Juno will go inside 222 miles (358 kilometers) of Europa and may be capable to seize a few of the highest-ever decision photographs of its floor, in addition to collect knowledge on its inside and the sting of its ambiance. Europa is a very thrilling place to check as a result of it’s considered probably the greatest locations within the photo voltaic system for all times to have advanced other than Earth. It is getting its personal mission known as Europa Clipper to be launched in 2024.

“Europa is such an intriguing Jovian moon, it is the focus of its own future NASA mission,” stated Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute, in a assertion. “We’re happy to provide data that may help the Europa Clipper team with mission planning, as well as provide new scientific insights into this icy world.”

Getting the spacecraft to go so near the moon whereas conserving it secure requires super coordination. The maneuvers required to get near Europa will change Juno’s orbit round Jupiter from a interval of 43 days to 38 days. And the relative speeds are extraordinarily quick, so the workforce will start knowledge assortment one hour earlier than the spacecraft’s closest strategy to the moon.

“The relative velocity between spacecraft and moon will be 14.7 miles per second (23.6 kilometers per second), so we are screaming by pretty fast,” stated John Bordi, Juno deputy mission supervisor at JPL. “All steps have to go like clockwork to successfully acquire our planned data, because soon after the flyby is complete, the spacecraft needs to be reoriented for our upcoming close approach of Jupiter, which happens only 7 ½ hours later.”

As it’s so removed from the solar, the floor of Europa could be very chilly and is roofed in a thick layer of ice. But researchers imagine there’s a saltwater ocean beneath this crust, which might probably help life. They know this as a result of earlier analysis has noticed plumes of water being thrown up into the moon’s ambiance. If we’re very, very fortunate, there may be even an opportunity that Juno might catch such a plume to watch it in additional element.

“We have the right equipment to do the job, but to capture a plume will require a lot of luck,” stated Bolton. “We have to be at the right place at just the right time, but if we are so fortunate, it’s a home run for sure.”

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