Astrophysics (Index)About

Galileo

(Jupiter Orbiter Probe)
(circa 1990s space mission to Jupiter)

Galileo was a spacecraft to study Jupiter and its moons launched in 1989 from the Space Shuttle Atlantis, and arriving at Jupiter in 1995. It entered Jupiter orbit, operated for years, and finally was plunged into Jupiter in 2003. On the way to Jupiter, it flew by Venus, Earth (including lunar observations), and asteroids 951 Gaspra and 243 Ida, discovering the latter was a binary minor planet. While approaching Jupiter, it released a probe to enter Jupiter atmosphere, which reported data from within the atmosphere for about an hour before it burned up. Galileo orbiter instruments:

Its primary mission was for two years, followed by a two year extension called the Galileo Europa Mission (GEM), focusing on Europa, then the Galileo Millennium Mission (GMM) following up on earlier discoveries, particularly regarding the moons.


(spacecraft,Jupiter,NASA,past)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft)
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/galileo/
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/galileo-probe/in-depth/
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1989-084B
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Solar/Galileo.html
http://astro.if.ufrgs.br/solar/galileo.htm

Referenced by pages:
Callisto
Europa
Ganymede
Io
Jupiter

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