The Moons of Jupiter

About this book

A spectacular tour of the moons of Jupiter in 106 stunning NASA images. Launched in 1989 Project Galileo is NASAs most ambitious interplanetary mission to date. The Galileo spacecraft is scheduled to crash into Jupiters turbulent atmosphere in September 2003 nearly nine years after it entered orbit around the mighty planet. During this time Galileo made a number of startling discoveries and transmitted more than 6 000 images of Jupiter and its many moons. This book explores Jupiters moons: Io which simmers with more than 100 active cauldrons and spews lava fountains some 5 000 feet high; Europa encrusted with salt-stained ice that may hide a once-living subterranean sea; Ganymede the only moon in our solar system known to generate its own magnetic field; and Callisto which may harbor a buried ocean and is one of the oldest and possibly unchanged places in our solar system; as well as Jupiters so-called inner moons and thirty-two additional minor moons. It shows that the Jovian system is like none we know. 106 color illustrations