March 3, 1998
This is the closest photograph ever taken of Europa. Last December, NASA's spacecraft
Galileo swept past the
Jovian moon and took
photographs
which were
released yesterday.
Speculation that life-bearing
oceans exist beneath
Europa's surface
caused NASA to put
Galileo on orbits that approach
Europa.
The above photograph shows new details on
Europa's surface,
indicating that much of Europa as strewn with
bumps and hills of ice laced with long fractures.
Dark circular features may be
impact craters.