[Illustration: The “bullseye” of Io was first photographed at a range of 2.8 million kilometers on March 3, and this color version was released on March 4. At the time, Imaging Team scientists wrote that “The large heart-shaped feature with a dark spot near its center could be Io’s equivalent of an impact basin such as Mare Orientale on the Moon. Its outer dimensions are about 800 by 1000 kilometers. Subsequent high-resolution coverage should reveal whether the small dark spots are impact craters, or perhaps something more exotic such as volcanoes. The reddish color of Io has been attributed to sulfur in the salts which are believed by some to make up the surface of Io.” It would be another week before this feature, later named “Pele” for the Hawaiian volcano goddess, would be recognized as an active, erupting volcano. [P-21187C]] Monday, March 5. (_Encounter Day. Minimum range to Jupiter, 780 000 kilometers; speed of spacecraft, almost 100 000 kilometers per hour_). Many celebrities, including the Governor of California, spent the night at JPL to witness the historic occasion. In Washington, D.C., a special TV monitor was set up in the White House for the President and his family. As late Sunday night eased into the early morning of encounter, closeup images of Jupiter, looking more like abstract art than like planetary science, flashed across the TV screens, and verbal images far less wild than the visuals from Jupiter were heard from commentators and from members of the press. “Are you sure Van Gogh didn’t paint that?” “That’s not Jupiter; it looks like a closeup of a salad.” “They’re not showing us Jupiter, that’s some medical school anatomy slide.” Shortly before closest approach to Jupiter, Voyager began its intensive observations of Io. Much of this information, taken while the Australian station was tracking the spacecraft, was recorded on Voyager’s onboard tape-recorder for playback later that day. But even before the results of that imaging were known, Larry Soderblom was calling Io “one of the most spectacular bodies in the solar system.” As more and more vivid photos of Io appeared on the monitors, members of the Imaging Team in the Blue Room buzzed with excitement. “This is incredible.” “The element of surprise is coming up in every one of these frames.” “I knew it would be wild from what we saw on approach but to anticipate anything like this would have required some sort of heavenly perspective. I think this is incredible.”