(Updated) Juno preps for close flyby of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io

NASA's Juno spacecraft is all set to perform a close flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io on Tuesday, May 16, followed by the gas giant itself. The upcoming flyby of the Jovian moon will be the closest to date, at an altitude of about 22,060 miles (35,500 kilometres), according to the agency.

Juno arrived at Jupiter on July 4, 2016, to investigate the interior of the planet. Now in the third year of its extended mission, the spacecraft has flown over 510 million miles.

To date, the solar-powered spacecraft has performed 50 flybys of Jupiter and also documented close encounters with three of the four largest Jovian moons - Europa, Ganymede, and Io.

"Io is the most volcanic celestial body that we know of in our solar system. By observing it over time on multiple passes, we can watch how the volcanoes vary – how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, whether they are linked to a group or solo, and if the shape of the lava flow changes," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

Io aglow! Our #JunoMission observed Jupiter's moon Io in visible and infrared light, yielding this composite view showing hot spots across the surface of the solar system's most volcanically active world. https://t.co/QhqQNP8Cgy pic.twitter.com/4UYAZvOTGn

— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) May 15, 2023

Juno's next flyby of lo is scheduled for July 31, 2023.

Update 

NASA has released the pictures of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io captured by the Juno mission during its 51st close flyby of Jupiter on May 16. You can check them out here.