NASA has released spectacular animated footage of its Juno probe flying closer to Jupiter’s icy moon Ganymede than any other spacecraft in decades and its subsequent fly-by of the giant planet. Better yet, the dramatic visuals are accompanied by the ethereal strains of Greek composer Vangelis’ original electronic score to commemorate the event.
“The animation shows just how beautiful deep space exploration can be,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator for Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, in a NASA story. “The animation is a way for people to imagine exploring our solar system firsthand by seeing what it would be like to be orbiting Jupiter and flying past one of its icy moons. Today, as we approach the exciting prospect of humans being able to visit space in orbit around Earth, this propels our imagination decades into the future, when humans will be visiting the alien worlds in our solar system.”
Vangelis has a forthcoming, long-awaited album, Juno to Jupiter, with more music inspired by the probe’s journey.
Watch now, with the music of Vangelis.
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