These views of Callisto were taken in May 2001 by the Galileo spacecraft. The top insert shows the sharp, knobby terrain experiencing erosion. As they stand now, the knobs are about 80 to 100 meters (260 to 330 feet) tall. As these knobs erode and disappear, the terrain will look more and more like the bottom insert. The smallest features discernable in these images are about 3 meters (10 feet) across.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

A Revealing Look at Callisto
News story originally written on September 5, 2001

The Galileo spacecraft has been in orbit around Jupiter for almost six years now. Earlier this spring, Galileo took these pictures of Callisto. Callisto is one of Jupiter's moons. Callisto is an icy moon about the same size as Mercury.

Galileo was only 86 miles (138 km) above the surface of Callisto when it took the pictures to the left. These are closer up than any other picture ever taken of any of Jupiter's moons. You can see things in these pictures that are just 10 feet (3 m) across! It's neat to think you can see hills and craters on Callisto even though it is so far away!

Last modified September 4, 2001 by Jennifer Bergman.

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Galileo

Galileo was a spacecraft that orbited Jupiter for eight years. It made many discoveries about Jupiter and its moons. Galileo was launched in 1989, and reached Jupiter in 1995. The spacecraft had two parts....more

Callisto

Callisto was first discovered by Galileo in 1610. It is the 2nd largest moon in the solar system, and is larger than the Earth's moon. It is about as big as the distance across the United States. Callisto...more

1999--A Year in Review...

It was another exciting and frustrating year for the space science program. It seemed that every step forward led to one backwards. Either way, NASA led the way to a great century of discovery. Unfortunately,...more

STS-95 Launch: "Let the wings of Discovery lift us on to the future."

The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on October 29th at 2:19 p.m. EST. The sky was clear and the weather was great. This was the America's 123rd manned space mission. A huge...more

Moon Found Orbiting Asteroid

Scientists found a satellite orbiting the asteroid, Eugenia. This is the second one ever! A special telescope allows scientists to look through Earth's atmosphere. The first satellite found was Dactyl....more

U.S. is Fed Up with Russia

The United States wants Russia to put the service module in orbit! The module is part of the International Space Station. It was supposed to be in space over 2 years ago. Russia just sent supplies to the...more

More on Recent Coronal Mass Ejection

A coronal mass ejection (CME) happened on the Sun last month. The material that was thrown out from this explosion passed the ACE spacecraft. ACE measured some exciting things as the CME material passed...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA