Watch a low flyover of Jupiter's moon Europa

Kevin Gill, a NASA software engineer who deals in data visualization and analysis, created this new, director's cut of his low flyover movie of Jupiter's moon Europa. Cut from recently processed images transmitted back from the Galileo orbiter launched in 1989, Gill explains, the video 'uses high resolution grayscale and low resolution color images taken between 1996 and 1998.'

Both NASA and the European Space Agency have missions in development to collect much higher data about Europa from probes expected to launch in about four or five years. NASA's Europa Clipper will 'investigate whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life.'

That's all well and good, assuming we attempt no landing there.

(via Kottke)