After Galileo, which remained in orbit from 1995 to 2003, no ship had explored Jupiter and its moons.
The arrival of the Juno probe in 2016 was an event in this regard.
After five years mainly devoted to the study of the gas giant and its magnetism, the mission has been extended in 2021 with the objective of a series of flybys of its moons.
Placed in a highly elliptical orbit around Jupiter, Juno can cross paths with one of these bodies each time it passes and visits them one by one.
Read alsoThe heart of Jupiter reveals its secrets
After Ganymede and Europa, it is Io, whose rocky entrails are liquefied by the gigantic tidal forces exerted by Jupiter, which is in the spotlight.
A series of nine close overflights, at less than 1,500 km for two of them, are scheduled by the end of 2023. The first took place last week.
On this occasion, and while awaiting the data from this first low-level passage, NASA unveiled an unpublished snapshot taken last summer at a distance of 80,000 km
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