Ganymede (moon) has an ionosphere associated with its atmosphere is unresolved. Ganymede's discovery is credited to Galileo Galilei, who was the first to observe it on January 7, 1610. The satellite's name was soon suggested by astronomer Simon Marius, after the mythological Ganymede, cupbearer of the Greek gods, kidnapped by Zeus for the purpose. Beginning with "Pioneer 10", several spacecraft have explored Ganymede. The Voyager probes, "Voyager 1" and "Voyager 2", refined measurements of its size, while "Galileo" discovered its underground ocean and magnetic field. The next planned mission to the Jovian system is the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer
Orbit of the Moon Orbit of the Moon The Moon orbits Earth in the prograde direction and completes one revolution relative to the stars in about 27.32 days (a sidereal month) and one revolution relative to the Sun in about 29.53 days (a synodic month). Earth and the Moon orbit about their barycenter (common center of mass), which lies about from Earth's center (about of the radius of Earth). On average, the distance to the Moon is about from Earth's center, which corresponds to about 60 Earth radii. With a mean orbital velocity of 1.022 km/s (0.635 miles/s), the Moon covers a distance approximately