Galileo's study of Jupiter ends - NASA grateful for photos

Associated Press ^ | February 10, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Galileo's study of Jupiter ends

NASA grateful for photos

02/10/2003

Associated Press

PASADENA, Calif. - An unmanned spacecraft that has been exploring the solar system for 14 years is nearing the end of its mission - and still revealing the secrets of a planet hundreds of millions of miles from Earth.

It took the Galileo probe five years to reach Jupiter. It photographed asteroids and the stormy red spot, then turned its cameras on the giant planet's moons, each a world in its own right.

The photos and measurements sent to Earth have provided tantalizing clues suggesting that three of those moons - Callisto, Europa and Ganymede - have liquid oceans, an idea that has caused scientists to speculate that the salty water could hold extraterrestrial life.

Galileo's journey will end soon after billions of miles traveled, its fair share of breakdowns and album after album stuffed with snapshots.

At the end of this month, mission operations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the craft conclude.

After that, scientists will check on it once a month until Sept. 21, when it is directed to crash into Jupiter.

Galileo could be allowed to simply remain in orbit, but scientists feared it might collide with Europa and contaminate that body with microbes from Earth, possibly damaging its environment.

The $1.5 billion mission met 70 percent of its science objectives and made a number of unexpected discoveries along the way - despite a range of problems.

"There was always something to fix. It kept me busy," said engineer Greg Levanas, Galileo's full-time troubleshooter.

The biggest challenge was the failure of its umbrellalike main antenna, which did not unfurl as planned two years after launch. That forced NASA to rely on a smaller antenna.

The spacecraft, powered by radioactive plutonium, withstood four times the cumulative dose of harmful radiation it was designed to take.

Along it 2.3 billion mile trip, it took the first close-up images of an asteroid.

It topped the feat two years later when it spied a tiny moon in orbit around another space rock, another first.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/nation/stories/021003dnnatgalileo.74ac.html

[MeekOneGOP]

NASA JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
An artist's rendition shows the Galileo in front
of Jupiter. Fourteen years after it set off from
Florida, the unmanned spacecraft is drawing to the
end of its $1.5 billion mission.

[MeekOneGOP]

just fyi...

[steve-b]

Galileo could be allowed to simply remain in orbit, but scientists feared it might collide with Europa and contaminate that body with microbes from Earth, possibly damaging its environment.

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE.

[Jonah Hex]

MY GOD! IT'S FULL OF STARS!

[anymouse]

Why? With a little luck and some creative cloning technology we could arrange to have a welcoming party set up for when we finally get around going back there. ;)

I suggest weasles, as they would be most appropriate inhabitants for a Jovian moon named after Europe. :)