Flyby

This view of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa was captured by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during the mission’s close flyby on September 29, 2022. The agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will explore the moon when it reaches orbit around Jupiter in 2030. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Kevin M. Gill CC BY 3.0The ice-covered Jovian moon generates 1,000 tons of oxygen every 24 hours – enough to keep a million humans breathing for a day.Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter have calculated the rate…

As many as 3 asteroids passed by Earth yesterday and all of them did so at breakneck speeds. Asteroids revolve around the Sun in their own orbits and are located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. But sometimes, these space rocks interact with a large planet's gravitational field which can send them tumbling towards the planet for potential impact. Space agencies keep a check on the orbits of these space rocks to avoid a potential collision scenario. They have also developed technology to…

NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, successfully lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:33 a.m. EST Thursday, February 8. PACE is NASA’s newest earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton, as well as new data on clouds and aerosols. Credit: NASA/Kim…

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has completed yet another flyby of Io, Jupiter’s highly volcanic moon. Coming eerily close to the moon, the small spacecraft was able to capture images of twin volcanic plumes on Io’s surface, sending material erupting into space.This new flyby was only the second-closest flyby that Juno made to Io. It came within 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of the moon’s surface. During this stellar rendevous, the spacecraft captured evidence of the various volcanos believed to pockmark the surface of…

NASA has released a high-resolution image taken by the Juno deep space probe during its close encounter with Jupiter's moon Io on December 30, 2023. The image of the volcanic satellite not only shows remarkable details, but an usual kind of lighting.When the robotic Juno orbiter zoomed past Io in December, it was the closest flyby of the moon since the Galileo mission over 20 years ago. It also marked a generational jump in photographic capability thanks to its JunoCam, which can manage a resolution of 15 km/pixel (9.3…

NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured new images of Jupiter’s moon Io during its latest flyby, coming within an eerily close distance of the most volcanically active world in the solar system for a second time in less than two months. The close encounter also shows what appears to be a pair of plumes erupting from the moon’s surface. 'More People Need to Know About This History': A Black Astronaut Speaks About Race and SpaceOn Saturday, Juno made the second closest flyby of Io, traveling at a distance of 930 miles (1,500…

On December 30, 2023, NASA's Juno deep space probe made the closest flyby of Jupiter's moon Io in over two decades. The robotic spacecraft passed within 930 miles (1,500 km) of the volcanic satellite, returning closeup images of the south pole.Launched on August 5, 2011, Juno is three years into its extended mission to study the giant planet Jupiter and its moons. Though the latest Io flyby is the closest for Juno, it is not the closest on record. That was achieved by the Galileo probe in 2001 when it sped by Io at a…

The most volcanic object in the Solar System has just been unveiled in new, glorious detail.On 30 December 2023, Jupiter probe Juno conducted its closest flyby of Io yet, snapping some incredible pics in the process. In them, Jupiter's moon seems to gleam with sickly, sulfurous hues, its surface mottled with features created by the ongoing volcanic activity that roils therein.Juno's flyby was the closest any probe has approached Io in decades, swooping within just 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of the moon's surface. The…

NASA’s curious Jupiter probe is getting chummier with the planet’s most erratic moon, Io. The Juno spacecraft will carry out the closest encounter any mission has had with the volcanic moon in over 20 years, collecting valuable clues about its mysterious activity.Freewrite Alpha Is the Little, Expensive E-Typewriter That CouldJuno will make its flyby of Io on Saturday, December 30, coming within 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) from the hellish surface of the Jovian moon, according to NASA. The spacecraft has observed Io…

ESA’s Juice spacecraft performed a critical maneuver to align for an Earth-Moon gravity assist in 2024, part of its eight-year mission to Jupiter. The maneuver is a key step in a fuel-efficient trajectory that includes further planetary flybys, aiming to study Jupiter’s moons upon arrival in 2031. This illustration depicts ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) approaching Earth. Credit: ESA/Lightcurve Films/R. AndresOn November 17, 2023, ESA’s Juice spacecraft carried out one of the largest and most important maneuvers…