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Another Daring Adventure for Galileo
NASA's durable Galileo space probe is heading for a close encounter with an alien volcano on August 6, 2001.
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August 3, 2001
NASA's Galileo spacecraft is about to buzz the north pole of Jupiter's sulfurous moon Io to get unprecedented magnetic measurements and to examine the site of a recent volcanic eruption.
The durable robot will skim about 200 kilometers above Io's surface at 12:59 a.m. EDT on August 6th. A few seconds later, Galileo will speed over an area called Tvashtar that was belching a giant plume of volcanic gases only seven months ago. The volcano might still be active, say scientists. If so, Galileo could fly right through a volcanic plume for the first time.
This December 2000 photo shows Tvashtar Catena, a north polar volcanic region that Galileo will skim on Monday, August 6. See the movie "Io: A Volcanic Inferno" for more information.
(Click the Pic)
Io, the innermost of Jupiter's four largest moons, is the most volcanic world in our solar system. It's peppered with hundreds of volcanoes -- of which half a dozen or so might be active at any given moment.
What makes Io so fiery? Tides. But the tides on Io are not like ocean tides we're familiar with on Earth. The gravitational fields of Jupiter and its other large moons raise tidal bulges in the solid crust of Io that are as high as a 30-story building. As Io orbits the giant planet the bulge moves, flexes the crust, and heats Io's interior like a paper clip bent rapidly back and forth. This is the source of energy for volcanoes that spew lava almost constantly.
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Where is Galileo Now?
Cheers, all,
Dan
Another Daring Adventure for Galileo . . .