Juno set to make closest approach to Europa on Sept 29; NASA explains why its significant

NASA’s Juno spacecraft is heading for a close fly-by near Jupiter’s Moon Europa on September 29. Examining Jupiter since 2016, the spacecraft’s closest approach is scheduled at 3:06 pm IST and will come as close as 358 kilometres from the surface of the icy world. Interestingly, this would be the first time in 22 years, that scientists will observe Europa this close; the last time was the Galileo probe’s fly-by when it was around 350 kilometres above the surface. 

NASA explains the significance of Juno’s fly by

Scientists are hoping to gather some crucial data about Europa which could help in future missions being sent toward the Moon, most notably the Europa Clipper targeted for launch in 2024. “Europa is such an intriguing Jovian moon, it is the focus of its own future NASA mission,” said Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in a statement. “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.”

NASA says that Juno’s close-up views will inform the Europa Clipper mission under which the new spacecraft would conduct 50 flybys after arriving Europa in 2030. The Clipper mission is to gather data on the moon’s atmosphere, surface, and interior to better understand Europa’s global subsurface ocean, the thickness of its ice crust, and the subsurface water being vented out in space. 

During the forthcoming approach, the Juno spacecraft obtain some of the highest-resolution images ever taken of portions of Europa’s surface. Moreover, it will also collect valuable data on the moon’s interior, surface composition, and ionosphere, along with its interaction with Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

Europa is such an interest to scientists because of the vast ocean that it harbours beneath its icy crust. They also believe that Europa’s oceans might house undiscovered signs of life. Juno will start peering into the icy surface when it is around 83,397 kilometres from Europa and the relative velocity between the spacecraft and the Moon will be 23.6 kilometres per second. 

NASA’s Juno mission team says that the probe would be in Europa’s shadow when closest to the moon, however, Jupiter’s atmosphere will reflect enough sunlight for the spacecraft to collect data in visible light.