Now NASA has the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter to study the massive planet and its large inner moons. Juno has been on this mission for the last 7 years.
Alien life on Io
Jupiter’s four largest moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They are named after Greco-Roman deities.
The Juno mission captured the Jupiter moon’s stormy atmosphere were initially in close fly-bys. Juno recently flew by Io at a distance of 80,000 km (49,709 miles). And in 2023 they will get much closer, within 1,500 km (932 miles).
Until the latest flybys astrobiologists believed that Europa and Ganymede (other Jupiter moons) had a better chance of having life. They both have subsurface oceans.
But now the scientists are researching the idea that the volcanic moon could have underground life. And it would most likely be in the lava tubes that send the molten rock and lava to the surface of Jupiter’s moon.
The terrifying fiery images of Io emerged last month. And NASA’s scientists will get an even better look at the planet’s surface this year. And many of them are convinced that alien life in the form of microbial ecosystems exists on those deeper levels.
