The best and closest photos taken in over 20 years Europeicy moon of Jupiter.

New detailed photos have been taken Juno ship US space agencyNASA), which passed on September 29 at a distance of only 352 kilometers from Europe.

The first image, taken Thursday, shows craters, canyons, ridges and other features in Europe’s rugged terrain.

“The level of detail in Europe’s landscapes and features is breathtaking,” said Lucas Paganini, Juno Mission Scientist at NASA Headquarters.

During the passage, Juno was moving at a speed of about 24 kilometers per second, so it had a window of only two hours to collect data and photograph the satellite.

Can Europe accept life?

NASA scientists will now compare these images with earlier images taken at least two decades ago to see how much Europa’s surface has changed in that time, as it is known to be a dynamic geological body.

The data will come in handy in preparation for the US Europa Clipper mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2024 and arrive there in 2030.

He will attempt to answer the question of whether Europa could support life beneath its icy surface, where a vast and deep ocean is thought to exist.

Europa has a diameter of about 3100 km and 90% the size of the Moon. Its characteristic feature is spectacular and towering jets of water, which are periodically ejected from cracks on its surface.

Juno was launched in 2011 and reached the Jupiter system in 2016, where it has been since. In 2021, the lander flew by another large moon, Ganymede, and is expected to do something similar with the volcanically active moon Io between December 2023 and January 2024.

This is the third time that a spacecraft has approached icy Europa at a distance of less than 500 kilometers. Galileo last approached in 2000.

According to NASA, RES