NASA scientists have made two groundbreaking announcements regarding their exploration of Mars and Jupiter’s moon Io.
On Io, the most volcanically active body in our solar system, researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) used the Juno mission to determine that there is no subsurface ocean fueling its hundreds of active volcanoes. Instead, local magma chambers are responsible for igniting these volcanoes, similar to those on Earth.
To confirm this finding, the JPL team conducted two close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024, allowing them to precisely map the moon’s gravity field. The data showed that Jupiter’s gravity has a minimal effect on Io’s surface, ruling out the possibility of a subsurface magma ocean.
The study also revealed a new mystery: a large lava sea called Loki on Io’s surface is peppered with islands. Researchers found at least 20 small islands, each about 3 kilometers wide, within the 202-kilometer-wide lake. The existence of these islands in the middle of the lava sea has puzzled scientists, who are now trying to explain how they remained intact despite intense volcanic activity.
Meanwhile, NASA’s Perseverance rover has reached the rim of Jezero Crater on Mars after a three-and-a-half-year journey and 30 kilometers of travel. The rover’s arrival marks a significant milestone in the mission, providing access to a new landscape that contains rocks dating back around 3.7 billion years.
The discovery is particularly exciting because it may hold clues about the early formation of our solar system. The rocks found by Perseverance are likely older than 4 billion years, making them some of the oldest ever discovered on Mars.
Source: https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/new-insights-into-io-mars-at-agu