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NASA's Juno Prepares for Close Flyby of Jupiter's Moon Io

The spacecraft is set to generate a wealth of data from the volcanic moon, with a second close flyby scheduled for February 2024.

  • NASA's Juno spacecraft is set to make a close flyby of Jupiter's moon Io on December 30, coming within roughly 930 miles of the surface.
  • The flyby is expected to generate a wealth of data, with Juno's instruments studying Io's volcanic activity and the flow of charged particles in Jupiter's magnetosphere.
  • A second ultra-close flyby of Io is scheduled for February 3, 2024, with Juno again coming within about 930 miles of the surface.
  • All three cameras aboard Juno will be active during the Io flyby, collecting heat signatures from volcanoes, obtaining the highest-resolution image of the surface to date, and taking visible-light color images.
  • Juno's trajectory has been adjusted to add seven new distant Io flybys to the extended mission plan, with each orbit growing progressively more distant.
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