spacetoday.net: Galileo ready for final plunge

Posted: Thu, Sep 18, 2003, 9:00 AM ET (1300 GMT)
Galileo at Jupiter illustration

NASA's Galileo spacecraft is ready to end its mission on Sunday with a plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere. The spacecraft, launched in 1989 and in orbit around Jupiter since late 1995, will fly into Jupiter's atmosphere just before 4 pm EDT (2000 GMT) Sunday, September 21 and will be destroyed within minutes. The deliberate flight into the atmosphere is designed to prevent the spacecraft from accidentally colliding with Europa at some future date after the spacecraft exhausts its onboard propellant. Europa has subsurface conditions that may be suitable for life, and mission planners are concerned that Galileo may still harbor terrestrial microbes that could contaminate the moon in the event of an impact. Galileo will perform some science during its final plunge, collecting data with its magnetometer and also using its star scanner to look for any small objects orbiting Jupiter in the vicinity of the inner moon Amalthea.