Galileo, mission to Jupiter

Fig. 10. The 800 x 800 pixel scientific CCD specifically designed for the Galileo mission to Jupiter. The devices are shown in wafer form after initial...

Amalthea is one of the four small moons inside the orbit of lo. Galileo visited it during its last orbit before falling into the Jovian atmosphere. Source Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "Galileo Mission to Jupiter/ online at http // www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact sheets/galileo.pdf... 

The Galileo mission to Jupiter and beyond obtained nearly 5 of the required 9 kilometers per second delta-v from one flyby of Venus and two flybys of Earth. This is only slighdy higher than the delta-v required to reach lunar orbit. 

Johnson, T. (2000). The Galileo Mission to Jupiter and its moons. Scientific American, 282,40-9. 

Hanlon, Michael. The Worlds of Galileo The Inside Story of NASA s Mission to Jupiter. New York St. Martin s Press, 2001. 

Cole, Michael D. Galileo Spacecraft Mission to Jupiter. Countdown to Space. New York Enslow, 1999. 

The mission to Venus, hy the Galileo spacecraft in 1989-90, produced relatively modest new data. The mission s primary objective was the planet Jupiter, and a visit to Venus was included only to provide a "gravity assist —a way to give the spacecraft the impetus it needed to get to the outer planet. During its closest approach of about 10,000 miles (16,000 km) from the planet, however, Galileo was able to carry out additional spectroscopic studies of Venus s clouds, collect photographs of its middle atmosphere clouds, and analyze radioactive sources present in the clouds. 

Infrared spectra from NASA s Galileo mission show distinct absorptions on Jupiter s moon Europa that have been attributed to one or more sulfuric acid hydrates. Sulfuric acid in solution with water causes significant freezing-point depression of water s melting point, down to 210 K, and this would make more likely the existence of liquid solutions beneath Europa s icy crust.The interpretation of the spectra is somewhat controversial. Some planetary scientists prefer to assign the spectral features to the sulfate ion, perhaps as part of one or more minerals on Europa s surface. 

Fig. 4.1 The Jupiter satellite lo due to tidal heating the body with the most active volcanism in the Solar System. Courtesy NASA/Galileo mission, JPL...

Another major issue is the composition and nature of the dark non-ice material mixed in various quantities on the satellites. Galileo data has provided some clues for the Jupiter system and Cassini will do a similar job for Samrn. More powerful spectral techniques and in situ analyses (and possibly sample return) will be required for a full characterization and identification of what are believed to be mixtures of complex hydrocarbons and organic material. For Titan, missions that explore both the atmosphere and the surface are being studied as follow-on exploration after Cassini/Huygens. 

The Galileo spacecraft was launched in October 1989 it arrived at Jupiter in 1995 on September 21,2003, the mission was terminated by sending the orbiter into Jupiter s atmosphere at a speed of nearly 50 km/s to avoid any chance of it contaminating local moons with bacteria from Earth. 

The primary mission for Galileo was the exploration of Jupiter. Its protection was designed to withstand particles up to 0.8 mm in diameter. The protection varied depending on the different... 

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