Galileo Spacecraft

Galileo Spacecraft was the first Planet Jupiter Obiter and the first outer solar system orbiter. It was launched by the Space Shuttle on 18th October, 1989 towards Planet Jupiter. Galileo Spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and probe. The probe was released into Planet Jupiter atmosphere on the 13th, July, 1995. The Galileo Spacecraft mission ended on 12 September 2003.

Galileo Spacecraft Picture - Spacecraft to Jupiter

The Galileo Spacecraft was launched from the cargo by of the space shuttle Atlantis in 1989. NASA’s Galileo Jupiter obiter plunged into the Jovian atmosphere on 21 September to be destroyed to prevent contamination of the subsurface water oceans the probe may have discovered on the icy moon Europa.

Launched by the Space Shuttle in October 1989, Galileo reached Jupiter in December 1995, releasing an atmosphere probe and making 35 orbits.

After circling the Jovian System for more than 7 years, Galileo had nearly depleted the propellant needed to point its antennae toward earth and adjust its flight path. While still in controllable the spacecraft was placed on a course to crash into Planet Jupiter, a manoeuvre designed to eliminate the risk of Galileo colliding with the moon Europa and contaminating its pristine surface.

Galileo Facts:

Galileo returned 14,387 images with the Solid State Imaging Camera, 3,762 from Jupiter’s Orbit.

Jupiter Orbits: 25

Total Satellite fly-bys:34

History:

7 December 1995: Galileo releases its probe into Jupiter’s atmosphere and brakes into orbit around the planet.

4 November 1996: The Galileo's first flyby of Callisto at an altitude of 1,136km (706 miles).

19 June 2000: Galileo leaves Jupiter’s magnetosphere for the first time.

December 2000-January 2001: Galileo and Cassini collaborate to study the Jovian System.

17 January 2002: No data returned during Galileo’s final flyby of IO after radiation places the spacecraft in standby mode during the encounter.

12 September 2003: The end of the mission. The spacecraft plunges into Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Did you know?

In 1994, Galileo made the only observation of a comet impacting a planet – comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s collision with Jupiter.

Galileo Image

Galileo Spacecraft Links

Goto Planet Jupiter Page

Goto Space Probes