[아이뉴스24 정종오 기자] NASA’s Jupiter spacecraft Juno successfully captured Jupiter’s icy moon Europa on September 29 at 2:36 am local time. At this time, the Juno probe was about 352 km from Europa.
Since the Galileo probe approached Europa about 351 km in 2000, the Juno probe has now reached its closest point.
Europa is one of the most popular satellites in the solar system. Europa is the sixth largest natural satellite in the solar system. Astronomers believe that Europa is covered with thick ice and an ocean beneath it. For this reason, it is predicted that Europa will have an environment in which life can live.
This image taken by Juno is expected to be of great help in estimating what changes have occurred in Europa’s ice topography since 2000. It is also expected to play a major role in the ‘Europa Clipper’ mission scheduled to launch in 2024. Europa Clipper aims to discover the existence of life by exploring the surface and interior as well as the atmosphere of Europa.
Juno Principal Researcher Dr Scott Bolton said, “The Juno probe succeeded in capturing relevant images during a close flight over Europa. There will be,” he said. It is expected that data on Europa’s ice shell structure and surface composition will be available.
Juno co-researcher, Dr. Candy Hansen, said, “The team will use the Europa data taken by the Juno probe to compare it with previous images to see how Europa’s surface features have changed over the past 20 years.” .
The Microwave Radiometer onboard Juno is expected to provide new details about how the structure of Europa’s ice changes under the crust. The team expects to use all of this information to find areas where liquid water may exist under the ice.
Meanwhile, the Juno spacecraft probed Ganymede, another moon of Jupiter, in 2021. Following this close flight to the Europa satellite, it is scheduled to fly close to Io, the most volcanic island in the solar system, in 2023 and 2024.
/Reporter Jeong Jong-oh(ikokid@inews24.com)