Spacecraft Juno to make closest flyby to Jupiterâs largest moon, Ganymede The flyby will be the closest-known since NASA s Galileo spacecraft made its penultimate close approach back on May 20, 2000.
Washington: NASA s Juno spacecraft will come within 645 miles (1,038 kilometres) of the surface of Jupiter s largest moon, Ganymede on June 7, the US space agency said on Friday.
The solar-powered Juno spacecraft will fly past Ganymede at 1:35 p.m. EDT (10:35 a.m. PDT). The flyby will be the closest-known since NASA s Galileo spacecraft made its penultimate close approach back on May 20, 2000.
The flyby will yield striking insights into the moon s composition, ionosphere, magnetosphere, and ice shell. Juno s measurements of the radiation environment near the moon will also benefit future missions to the Jovian system encompassing Jupiter, its rings and moons, NASA said.