NASA’s Juno space probe that has been circling Jupiter since 2016 will be making its closest visit to the planet’s biggest moon Ganymede, the space agency said in a press release.
It will be the closest the space agency will get to the largest moon in the solar system in more than 2 decades. Back in the year 2000, Galileo reached within 645 miles to the moon’s surface. The data gathered from the latest visit will provide scientists with insights into the moon’s composition and ice shell, as well as provide data for future missions to the gas giant Jupiter.
“Juno carries a suite of sensitive instruments capable of seeing Ganymede in ways never before possible,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator. “By flying so close, we will bring the exploration of Ganymede into the 21st century, both complementing future missions with our unique sensors and helping prepare for the next generation of missions to the Jovian system.”
Moon bigger than planet
These future missions include the space agency’s Europa Clipper, which is yet to get a date, and ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission that will take off in 2022 and reach Jupiter by 2029.
To put things in perspective, the Ganymede moon is bigger than the planet Mercury and is also the only moon in the solar system with its own magnetosphere. NASA describes it as “a bubble-shaped region of charged particles” surrounding the moon.
Every second counts
Juno probe that has captured many glorious images of Jupiter during its mission, will only be able to take 5 images during the flyby. This is because the moon will appear and fade from view in a 25-minute window. Three hours before the space probe makes its closest approach, its equipment will start gathering data.
“Literally every second counts,” said Matt Johnson, Juno mission manager at NASA’s JPL. “On Monday, we are going to race past Ganymede at almost 12 miles per second (19 kilometers per second),” he added. NASA also allows you to track where Juno is now using its Eyes on the Solar System interactive.
