Table of Contents
What happened to the Galileo mission?
The Galileo spacecraft’s 14-year odyssey came to an end on Sunday, Sept. 21, when the spacecraft passed into Jupiter’s shadow then disintegrated in the planet’s dense atmosphere at 11:57 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
Why did the Galileo space probe crash into Jupiter?
At the end of its mission, Galileo lacked the fuel to escape the Jovian system so scientists decided to crash it into Jupiter to avoid contaminating any potential life on Europa, which is believed to have liquid water oceans under a thick sheet of ice.
How much did the Galileo mission cost?
1.6 billion USD
Galileo/Cost
Did NASA name a spaceship after Galileo?
Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, it consisted of an orbiter and an entry probe….Galileo (spacecraft)
| Names | Jupiter Orbiter Probe |
| Mission type | Jupiter orbiter |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1989-084B |
| Spacecraft properties |
|---|
What was the mission of the Galileo spacecraft?
Mission Overview. The Galileo mission consists of two spacecraft: an orbiter and an atmospheric probe. Launched during the STS 34 flight of the Atlantis orbiter, the two spacecraft were kicked out of Earth orbit by an inertial upper stage (IUS) rocket, sending them careening through the inner solar system.
How many miles did Galileo travel from launch to impact?
From launch to impact, the spacecraft has traveled about 2.8 billion miles (4,631,778,000 kilometers). Its entry point into the giant planet’s atmosphere was about 1/4 degree south of Jupiter’s equator.
When was the Galileo probe released from the orbiter?
Interplanetary studies were also made sporadically by some of the other Galileo instruments, including the dust detector, magnetometer, and various plasma and particles detectors, during its six year journey to Jupiter. The probe was released from the orbiter 147 days prior to its entry into the Jovian atmosphere on 7 December 1995.
How long did it take Galileo to get to Jupiter?
A year later, at 39 million miles from Jupiter, Galileo survived the most intense interplanetary dust storm ever recorded. At about this time, with 147 days to go to Jupiter, the Jupiter Atmospheric Probe separated from Galileo, in freefall toward its destination.