#Juno over #Io:

The probe’s original mission first wrapped in July of 2021, but it has since then been given an extended mission with a deadline set for 2025.

...on Juno’s current orbit, it will steadily get closer to the moon, until in February of 2024 it will be within 1,500 kilometers of Io’s surface. The probe is expected to take more exciting images, as it inches closer to the fire and ice moon.

#Jupiter’s #moon, which is made up of fire and ice, has a surface temperature of negative 250 degrees Fahrenheit, but is covered in more than 400 active volcanoes which produce hot lava that can reach temperatures of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees hotter than on Earth).

And if that doesn’t already sound like a terrifying place to visit, the moon also features large lakes of lava that are more than 100 miles across in length, changing volcanic deposits, as well as fountains of fire that unpredictably erupt.

Io is one of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, and is one of the four largest.