For the first time in two decades, NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured close-up images of Jupiter’s largest moon.
On Monday, June 7, the Juno flew past the icy Ganymede at a distance of 1,038 km. The last time a spacecraft came this close was in 2000, when NASA’s Galileo spacecraft flew past the largest moon in our solar system.
On Tuesday, NASA released the first two images of Juno, showing Ganymede craters and long, narrow features that may be related to tectonic faults. One shows the opposite side of the moon, opposite the sun.
It is the closest spacecraft of all to this giant moon in one generation, ”said Juno lead scientist Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “We’re going to take our time before drawing any scientific conclusions, but until then, we can simply marvel at this celestial miracle – the only moon in our solar system larger than the planet Mercury.”
Ganymede is one of 79 known moons of Jupiter, the gas giant. Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered Ganymede in 1610 along with Jupiter’s three next largest moons.
Launched ten years ago, Juno has been orbiting Jupiter for five years, Fox.News recalled.
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