NASA ‘s June spacecraft is preparing to attempt to get as close as it can to Jupiter ‘s unbelievably dangerous moon. According to the space agency, the Juno spacecraft is preparing to make the attempt on 15 December when it attempts to fly by Io.
This attempt is one nine flybys of Io made by Juno over the next year and a half. Jupiter ‘s moon Io is home to probably more volcanoes than people can probably actively count.
“The team is really excited to have Juno’s extended mission include the study of Jupiter’s moons. With each close flyby, we have been able to obtain a wealth of new information,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, in a statement.
“Juno sensors are designed to study Jupiter, but we’ve been thrilled at how well they can perform double duty by observing Jupiter’s moons.”