Galileo (spacecraft)

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Galileo
Artwork Galileo-Io-Jupiter.JPG
Artist's concept of Galileo at Io with Jupiter in the background. In reality, the high-gain foldable antenna failed to deploy in flight.
NamesJupiter Orbiter Probe
Mission type Jupiter orbiter
Operator NASA
COSPAR ID 1989-084B OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 20298
Website solarsystem.nasa.gov/galileo/
Mission duration
  • Planned: 8 years, 1 month, 19 days
  • Jupiter orbit: 7 years, 9 months, 13 days
  • Final: 13 years, 11 months, 3 days
Distance travelled4,631,778,000 km (2.88 billion mi) [1]
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer
Launch mass
  • Total: 2,560 kg (5,640 lb) [2]
  • Orbiter: 2,220 kg (4,890 lb) [2]
  • Probe: 340 kg (750 lb) [2]
Dry mass
  • Orbiter: 1,880 kg (4,140 lb) [2]
  • Probe: 340 kg (750 lb) [2]
Payload mass
  • Orbiter: 118 kg (260 lb) [2]
  • Probe: 30 kg (66 lb) [2]
Power
  • Orbiter: 570 watts at launch, [2] 493 watts on arrival, [3] 410 watts at end-of-life
  • Probe: 730 watt-hours [2]
Start of mission
Launch dateOctober 18, 1989, 16:53:40 (1989-10-18UTC16:53:40)  UTC
Rocket Space Shuttle Atlantis
STS-34/IUS
Launch site Kennedy LC-39B
Entered serviceDecember 8, 1995, 01:16 UTC  SCET
End of mission
DisposalControlled entry into Jupiter
Decay dateSeptember 21, 2003, 18:57:18 (2003-09-21UTC18:57:19) UTC
Galileo mission patch.png
Large Strategic Science Missions
Planetary Science Division

Galileo was an American robotic space probe that studied the planet Jupiter and its moons, as well as the asteroids Gaspra and Ida. Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, it consisted of an orbiter and an entry probe. It was delivered into Earth orbit on October 18, 1989, by Space Shuttle Atlantis, during STS-34. Galileo arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, after gravitational assist flybys of Venus and Earth, and became the first spacecraft to orbit an outer planet. [4]

Contents

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the Galileo spacecraft and managed the Galileo program for NASA. West Germany's Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm supplied the propulsion module. NASA's Ames Research Center managed the atmospheric probe, which was built by Hughes Aircraft Company. At launch, the orbiter and probe together had a mass of 2,562 kg (5,648 lb) and stood 6.15 m (20.2 ft) tall.

Spacecraft are normally stabilized either by spinning around a fixed axis or by maintaining a fixed orientation with reference to the Sun and a star. Galileo did both. One section of the spacecraft rotated at 3 revolutions per minute, keeping Galileo stable and holding six instruments that gathered data from many different directions, including the fields and particles instruments.

Galileo was intentionally destroyed in Jupiter's atmosphere on September 21, 2003. The next orbiter to be sent to Jupiter was Juno, which arrived on July 5, 2016.

Development

Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, with more than twice the mass of all the other planets combined. [5] Consideration of sending a probe to Jupiter began as early as 1959. [6] NASA's Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) for Outer Solar System Missions considered the requirements for Jupiter orbiters and atmospheric probes. It noted that the technology to build a heat shield for an atmospheric probe did not yet exist, and facilities to test one under the conditions found on Jupiter would not be available until 1980. [7] NASA management designated the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as the lead center for the Jupiter Orbiter Probe (JOP) project. [8] The JOP would be the fifth spacecraft to visit Jupiter, but the first to orbit it, and the probe would be the first to enter its atmosphere. [9]

In the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF), Galileo is prepared for mating with the Inertial Upper Stage booster. Galileo Preparations - GPN-2000-000672.jpg
In the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF), Galileo is prepared for mating with the Inertial Upper Stage booster.

An important decision made at this time was to use a Mariner program spacecraft like that used for Voyager for the Jupiter orbiter, rather than a Pioneer. Pioneer was stabilized by spinning the spacecraft at 60 rpm, which gave a 360-degree view of the surroundings, and did not require an attitude control system. By contrast, Mariner had an attitude control system with three gyroscopes and two sets of six nitrogen jet thrusters. Attitude was determined with reference to the Sun and Canopus, which were monitored with two primary and four secondary sensors. There was also an inertial reference unit and an accelerometer. This allowed it to take high-resolution images, but the functionality came at a cost of increased weight. A Mariner weighed 722 kilograms (1,592 lb) compared to just 146 kilograms (322 lb) for a Pioneer. [10]

John R. Casani, who had headed the Mariner and Voyager projects, became the first project manager. [11] He solicited suggestions for a more inspirational name for the project, and the most votes went to "Galileo" after Galileo Galilei, the first person to view Jupiter through a telescope. His 1610 discovery of what is now known as the Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter was important evidence of the Copernican model of the solar system. It was also noted that the name was that of a spacecraft in the Star Trek television show. The new name was adopted in February 1978. [12]

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the Galileo spacecraft and managed the Galileo mission for NASA. West Germany 's Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm supplied the propulsion module. NASA's Ames Research Center managed the atmospheric probe, which was built by Hughes Aircraft Company. [2] At launch, the orbiter and probe together had a mass of 2,562 kg (5,648 lb) and stood 6.15 m (20.2 ft) tall. [2] Spacecraft are normally stabilized either by spinning around a fixed axis or by maintaining a fixed orientation with reference the Sun and a star; Galileo did both. One section of the spacecraft rotated at 3 revolutions per minute, keeping Galileo stable and holding six instruments that gathered data from many different directions, including the fields and particles instruments. [13] Back on the ground, the mission operations team used software containing 650,000 lines of code in the orbit sequence design process; 1,615,000 lines in the telemetry interpretation; and 550,000 lines of code in navigation. [2] All of the spacecraft components and spare parts received a minimum of 2,000 hours of testing. The spacecraft was expected to last for at least five years—long enough to reach Jupiter and perform its mission. [14]

Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-34, carrying Galileo into Earth orbit STS-34 Launch 2.jpg
Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-34, carrying Galileo into Earth orbit

On December 19, 1985, it departed the JPL in Pasadena, California, on the first leg of its journey, a road trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. [14] [15] Due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the May launch date could not be met. [16] The mission was rescheduled to October 12, 1989. The Galileo spacecraft would be launched by the STS-34 mission in the Space Shuttle Atlantis. [17] As the launch date of Galileo neared, anti-nuclear groups, concerned over what they perceived as an unacceptable risk to the public's safety from the plutonium in the Galileo's radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules, sought a court injunction prohibiting Galileo's launch. [18] RTGs were necessary for deep space probes because they had to fly distances from the Sun that made the use of solar energy impractical. [19]

The launch was delayed twice more: by a faulty main engine controller that forced a postponement to October 17, and then by inclement weather, which necessitated a postponement to the following day, [20] but this was not a concern since the launch window extended until November 21. [21] Atlantis finally lifted off at 16:53:40 UTC on October 18, and went into a 343-kilometer (213 mi) orbit. [20] Galileo was successfully deployed at 00:15 UTC on October 19. [16] Following the IUS burn, the Galileo spacecraft adopted its configuration for solo flight, and separated from the IUS at 01:06:53 UTC on October 19. [22] The launch was perfect, and Galileo was soon headed towards Venus at over 14,000 km/h (9,000 mph). [23] Atlantis returned to Earth safely on October 23. [20]

Galileo's main components Galileo Diagram.jpg
Galileo's main components

Command and Data Handling (CDH)

The CDH subsystem was actively redundant, with two parallel data system buses running at all times. [24] Each data system bus (a.k.a. string) was composed of the same functional elements, consisting of multiplexers (MUX), high-level modules (HLM), low-level modules (LLM), power converters (PC), bulk memory (BUM), data management subsystem bulk memory (DBUM), timing chains (TC), phase locked loops (PLL), Golay coders (GC), hardware command decoders (HCD) and critical controllers (CRC). [25]

The CDH subsystem was responsible for maintaining the following functions:

  1. decoding of uplink commands
  2. execution of commands and sequences
  3. execution of system-level fault-protection responses
  4. collection, processing, and formatting of telemetry data for downlink transmission
  5. movement of data between subsystems via a data system bus. [26]

The spacecraft was controlled by six RCA 1802 COSMAC microprocessor CPUs: four on the spun side and two on the despun side. Each CPU was clocked at about 1.6 MHz, and fabricated on sapphire (silicon on sapphire), which is a radiation-and static-hardened material ideal for spacecraft operation. This 8-bit microprocessor was the first low-power CMOS processor chip, similar to the 6502 that was being built into the Apple II desktop computer at that time. [27]

The Galileo Attitude and Articulation Control System (AACSE) was controlled by two Itek Advanced Technology Airborne Computers (ATAC), built using radiation-hardened 2901s. The AACSE could be reprogrammed in flight by sending the new program through the Command and Data Subsystem. [28] The attitude control system software was written in the HAL/S programming language, [29] which was also used in the Space Shuttle program. [30]

Memory capacity provided by each BUM was 16K of RAM, while the DBUMs each provided 8K of RAM. There were two BUMs and two DBUMs in the CDH subsystem and they all resided on the spun side of the spacecraft. The BUMs and DBUMs provided storage for sequences and contain various buffers for telemetry data and interbus communication. Every HLM and LLM was built up around a single 1802 microprocessor and 32K of RAM (for HLMs) or 16K of RAM (for LLMs). Two HLMs and two LLMs resided on the spun side while two LLMs were on the despun side. Thus, total memory capacity available to the CDH subsystem was 176K of RAM: 144K allocated to the spun side and 32K to the despun side. [31] Each HLM was responsible for the following functions:

  1. uplink command processing
  2. maintenance of the spacecraft clock
  3. movement of data over the data system bus
  4. execution of stored sequences (time-event tables)
  5. telemetry control
  6. error recovery including system fault-protection monitoring and response. [31]

Each LLM was responsible for the following functions:

  1. collect and format engineering data from the subsystems
  2. provide the capability to issue coded and discrete commands to spacecraft users
  3. recognize out-of-tolerance conditions on status inputs
  4. perform some system fault-protection functions. [31]

Propulsion

Propulsion module Galileo propulsion module.jpg
Propulsion module

The propulsion subsystem consisted of a 400 N (90 lbf) main engine and twelve 10 N (2.2 lbf) thrusters, together with propellant, storage and pressurizing tanks and associated plumbing. The 10 N thrusters were mounted in groups of six on two 2-meter (6.6 ft) booms. The fuel for the system was 925 kg (2,039 lb) of monomethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide. Two separate tanks held another 7 kg (15 lb) of helium pressurant. The propulsion subsystem was developed and built by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm and provided by West Germany, the major international partner in Project Galileo. [27]

Electrical power

At the time, solar panels were not practical at Jupiter's distance from the Sun; the spacecraft would have needed a minimum of 65 square meters (700 sq ft) of panels. Chemical batteries would likewise be prohibitively large due to technological limitations. The solution was two radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) which powered the spacecraft through the radioactive decay of plutonium-238. The heat emitted by this decay was converted into electricity through the solid-state Seebeck effect. This provided a reliable and long-lasting source of electricity unaffected by the cold environment and high-radiation fields in the Jovian system. [27] [32]

Each GPHS-RTG, mounted on a 5-meter long (16 ft) boom, carried 7.8 kilograms (17 lb) of 238 Pu . Each RTG contained 18 separate heat source modules, and each module encased four pellets of plutonium(IV) oxide, a ceramic material resistant to fracturing. [32] The plutonium was enriched to about 83.5 percent plutonium-238. [33] The modules were designed to survive a range of potential accidents: launch vehicle explosion or fire, re-entry into the atmosphere followed by land or water impact, and post-impact situations. An outer covering of graphite provided protection against the structural, thermal, and eroding environments of a potential re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Additional graphite components provided impact protection, while iridium cladding of the RTGs provided post-impact containment. [32] The RTGs produced about 570 watts at launch. The power output initially decreased at the rate of 0.6 watts per month and was 493 watts when Galileo arrived at Jupiter. [3]

Telecommunications

The spacecraft had a large high-gain antenna which failed to deploy while in space, so the low-gain antenna was used instead, although at slower data transfer speeds. [34]

Instruments

Scientific instruments to measure fields and particles were mounted on the spinning section of the spacecraft, together with the main antenna, power supply, the propulsion module and most of Galileo's computers and control electronics. The sixteen instruments, weighing 118 kg (260 lb) altogether, included magnetometer sensors mounted on an 11 m (36 ft) boom to minimize interference from the spacecraft; a plasma instrument for detecting low-energy charged particles and a plasma-wave detector to study waves generated by the particles; a high-energy particle detector; and a detector of cosmic and Jovian dust. It also carried the Heavy Ion Counter, an engineering experiment to assess the potentially hazardous charged particle environments the spacecraft flew through, and an extreme ultraviolet detector associated with the UV spectrometer on the scan platform. [2]

The despun section's instruments included the camera system; the near infrared mapping spectrometer to make multi-spectral images for atmospheric and moon surface chemical analysis; the ultraviolet spectrometer to study gases; and the photopolarimeter-radiometer to measure radiant and reflected energy. The camera system was designed to obtain images of Jupiter's satellites at resolutions 20 to 1,000 times better than Voyager 's best, because Galileo flew closer to the planet and its inner moons, and because the more modern CCD sensor in Galileo's camera was more sensitive and had a broader color detection band than the vidicons of Voyager. [2]

Despun section

Solid-state imager (SSI)

Solid-state imager Galileo Solid- State Imaging.jpg
Solid-state imager

The SSI was an 800-by-800-pixel charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The optical portion of the camera was a modified flight spare of the Voyager narrow-angle camera; a Cassegrain telescope. [35] The CCD had radiation shielding a 10 mm (0.4 in) thick layer of tantalum surrounding the CCD except where the light enters the system. An eight-position filter wheel was used to obtain images at specific wavelengths. The images were then combined electronically on Earth to produce color images. The spectral response of the SSI ranged from about 400 to 1100 nm. The SSI weighed 29.7 kg (65 lb) and consumed, on average, 15 watts of power. [36] [37]

Near-infrared mapping spectrometer (NIMS)

Near-infrared mapping spectrometer Galileo - NIMS photo - nims1.jpg
Near-infrared mapping spectrometer

The NIMS instrument was sensitive to 0.7-to-5.2-micrometer wavelength infrared light, overlapping the wavelength range of the SSI. NIMS used a 229 mm (9 in) aperture reflecting telescope. The spectrometer used a grating to disperse the light collected by the telescope. The dispersed spectrum of light was focused on detectors of indium, antimonide and silicon. NIMS weighed 18 kg (40 lb) and used 12 watts of power on average. [38] [39]

Ultraviolet spectrometer / extreme ultraviolet spectrometer (UVS/EUV)

Ultraviolet spectrometer Galileo - UVS photo - uvs1.jpg
Ultraviolet spectrometer

The Cassegrain telescope of the UVS had a 250 mm (9.8 in) aperture. Both the UVS and EUV instruments used a ruled grating to disperse light for spectral analysis. Light then passed through an exit slit into photomultiplier tubes that produced pulses of electrons, which were counted and the results sent to Earth. The UVS was mounted on Galileo's scan platform. The EUV was mounted on the spun section. As Galileo rotated, EUV observed a narrow ribbon of space perpendicular to the spin axis. The two instruments combined weighed about 9.7 kg (21 lb) and used 5.9 watts of power. [40] [41]

Photopolarimeter–radiometer (PPR)

The PPR had seven radiometry bands. One of these used no filters and observed all incoming radiation, both solar and thermal. Another band allowed only solar radiation through. The difference between the solar-plus-thermal and the solar-only channels gave the total thermal radiation emitted. The PPR also measured in five broadband channels that spanned the spectral range from 17 to 110 micrometers. The radiometer provided data on the temperatures of Jupiter's atmosphere and satellites. The design of the instrument was based on that of an instrument flown on the Pioneer Venus spacecraft. A 100 mm (4 in) aperture reflecting telescope collected light and directed it to a series of filters, and, from there, measurements were performed by the detectors of the PPR. The PPR weighed 5.0 kg (11.0 lb) and consumed about 5 watts of power. [42] [43]

Spun section

Dust-detector subsystem (DDS)

Dust-detector subsystem Galileo - DDS photo - dds1.jpg
Dust-detector subsystem

The dust-detector subsystem (DDS) was used to measure the mass, electric charge, and velocity of incoming particles. The masses of dust particles that the DDS could detect go from 10−16 to 10−7 grams. The speed of these small particles could be measured over the range of 1 to 70 kilometers per second (0.6 to 43.5 mi/s). The instrument could measure impact rates from 1 particle per 115 days (10 megaseconds) to 100 particles per second. Such data was used to help determine dust origin and dynamics within the magnetosphere. The DDS weighed 4.2 kg (9.3 lb) and used an average of 5.4 watts of power. [44] [45]

Energetic-particles detector (EPD)

The energetic-particles detector (EPD) was designed to measure the numbers and energies of ions and electrons whose energies exceeded about 20 keV (3.2 fJ). The EPD could also measure the direction of travel of such particles and, in the case of ions, could determine their composition (whether the ion is oxygen or sulfur, for example). The EPD used silicon solid-state detectors and a time-of-flight detector system to measure changes in the energetic particle population at Jupiter as a function of position and time. These measurements helped determine how the particles got their energy and how they were transported through Jupiter's magnetosphere. The EPD weighed 10.5 kg (23 lb) and used 10.1 watts of power on average. [46] [47]

Heavy-ion counter (HIC)

Heavy-ion counter Galileo Heavy Ion Counter.jpg
Heavy-ion counter

The HIC was, in effect, a repackaged and updated version of some parts of the flight spare of the Voyager cosmic-ray system. The HIC detected heavy ions using stacks of single crystal silicon wafers. The HIC could measure heavy ions with energies as low as 6 MeV (1 pJ) and as high as 200 MeV (32 pJ) per nucleon. This range included all atomic substances between carbon and nickel. The HIC and the EUV shared a communications link and, therefore, had to share observing time. The HIC weighed 8.0 kg (17.6 lb) and used an average of 2.8 watts of power. [48] [49]

Magnetometer (MAG)

Magnetometer (stowed) Galileo - MAD photo - mag1.jpg
Magnetometer (stowed)

The magnetometer (MAG) used two sets of three sensors. The three sensors allowed the three orthogonal components of the magnetic field section to be measured. One set was located at the end of the magnetometer boom and, in that position, was about 11 m (36 ft) from the spin axis of the spacecraft. The second set, designed to detect stronger fields, was 6.7 m (22 ft) from the spin axis. The boom was used to remove the MAG from the immediate vicinity of Galileo to minimize magnetic effects from the spacecraft. However, not all these effects could be eliminated by distancing the instrument. The rotation of the spacecraft was used to separate natural magnetic fields from engineering-induced fields. Another source of potential error in measurement came from the bending and twisting of the long magnetometer boom. To account for these motions, a calibration coil was mounted rigidly on the spacecraft to generate a reference magnetic field during calibrations. The magnetic field at the surface of the Earth has a strength of about 50,000  nT. At Jupiter, the outboard (11 m) set of sensors could measure magnetic field strengths in the range from ±32 to ±512 nT, while the inboard (6.7 m) set was active in the range from ±512 to ±16,384 nT. The MAG experiment weighed 7.0 kg (15.4 lb) and used 3.9 watts of power. [50] [51]

Plasma subsystem (PLS)

The PLS used seven fields of view to collect charged particles for energy and mass analysis. These fields of view covered most angles from 0 to 180 degrees, fanning out from the spin axis. The rotation of the spacecraft carried each field of view through a full circle. The PLS measured particles in the energy range from 0.9 to 52,000  eV (0.14 to 8,300  aJ ). The PLS weighed 13.2 kg (29 lb) and used an average of 10.7 watts of power. [52] [53]

Plasma-wave subsystem (PWS)

Plasma-wave subsystem Galileo - PWS photo - pws1.jpg
Plasma-wave subsystem

An electric dipole antenna was used to study the electric fields of plasmas, while two search coil magnetic antennas studied the magnetic fields. The electric dipole antenna was mounted at the tip of the magnetometer boom. The search coil magnetic antennas were mounted on the high-gain antenna feed. Nearly simultaneous measurements of the electric and magnetic field spectrum allowed electrostatic waves to be distinguished from electromagnetic waves. The PWS weighed 7.1 kg (16 lb) and used an average of 9.8 watts. [54] [55]

Galileo entry probe

Galileo Probe
Galileo Probe diagram.jpeg
Diagram of the atmospheric entry probe's instruments and subsystems
Mission type Atmospheric probe
Operator NASA
COSPAR ID 1989-084E
SATCAT no. 43337
Mission duration61.4 minutes
Distance travelled83 million km (52 million mi)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer Hughes Aircraft Company
BOL mass 340 kg (750 lb)
Payload mass29 kg (64 lb)
Power580 watts
Start of mission
Launch dateOctober 18, 1989, 16:53:40 (1989-10-18UTC16:53:40)  UTC
Rocket Space Shuttle Atlantis
STS-34/IUS
Launch site Kennedy LC-39B
Deployed fromGalileo
Deployment dateJuly 12, 1995, 03:07 UTC [2]
End of mission
Last contactDecember 7, 1995, 23:06:08 UTC
Jupiter atmospheric probe
Atmospheric entryDecember 7, 1995, 22:04:44 UTC
Impact site 6°30′N4°24′W / 6.5°N 4.4°W / 6.5; -4.4 [56]
Inner Descent Module of the Galileo Entry Probe Descent Module.jpeg
Inner Descent Module of the Galileo Entry Probe

The atmospheric probe was built by Hughes Aircraft Company's Space and Communications Group at its El Segundo, California plant. [57] [58] It weighed 339 kilograms (747 lb) and was 86 centimeters (34 in) high. [2]

Heat shield

Inside the probe's heat shield, the scientific instruments were protected from extreme heat and pressure during its high-speed journey into the Jovian atmosphere, entering at 48 kilometers per second (110,000 mph). [59] Temperatures reached around 16,000 °C (29,000 °F). [56] The ablative heat shield was made of carbon phenolic. [60] NASA built a special laboratory, the Giant Planet Facility, to simulate the heat load, which was similar to the convective and radiative heating experienced by an ICBM warhead reentering the atmosphere. [61] [62]

Batteries

The probe's electronics were powered by 13 lithium sulfur dioxide batteries manufactured by Honeywell's Power Sources Center in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Each cell was the size of a D battery so existing manufacturing tools could be used. [63] [64] They provided a nominal power output of about 7.2-ampere hours capacity at a minimal voltage of 28.05 volts. [65]

Scientific instruments

The probe included seven instruments for taking data on its plunge into Jupiter: [66] [67]

Scientific instruments
InstrumentFunctionMassPower consumptionPrincipal investigatorOrganizations
Atmospheric structure instrumentMeasuring temperature, pressure and deceleration4.1 kg (9.0 lb)6.3 WAlvin Seiff Ames Research Center and San Jose State University Foundation
Neutral mass spectrometer Analyze the gas composition of the atmosphere13 kg (29 lb)29 WHasso Niemann Goddard Space Flight Center
Helium Abundance DetectorAn interferometer supporting atmospheric composition studies1.4 kg (3.1 lb)1.1 WUlf von Zahn University of Bonn, University of Rostock
Nephelometer Cloud location and cloud-particle observations4.8 kg (11 lb)14 WBoris Ragent Ames Research Center and San Jose State University Foundation
Net-flux radiometer Measuring the difference between upward and downward radiant flux at each altitude3.0 kg (6.6 lb)7.0 WL. Sromovsky University of Wisconsin
Lightning and radio emission detector and energetic particles instrumentMeasuring light and radio emissions associated with lightning, and fluxes of protons, electrons, alpha particles and heavy ions 2.7 kg (6.0 lb)2.3 WLouis Lanzerotti Bell Laboratories, University of Florida and Federal Republic of Germany
Radio equipmentMeasuring wind speeds and atmospheric absorptionDavid AtkinsonUniversity of Idaho

In addition, the probe's heat shield contained instrumentation to measure ablation during descent. [68]

Termination

Lacking the fuel to escape Jupiter's gravity well, at the end of Galileo's life, the main spacecraft was deliberately crashed into Jupiter on September 21, 2003, to prevent forward contamination of possible life of Jupiter's moon Europa. [69]

Names

The Galileo Probe had COSPAR ID 1989-084E while the orbiter had id 1989-084B. [70] Names for the spacecraft include Galileo Probe or Jupiter Entry Probe abbreviated JEP. [71] The related COSPAR IDs of the Galileo mission were: [72]

See also

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Mariner 2, an American space probe to Venus, was the first robotic space probe to report successfully from a planetary encounter. The first successful spacecraft in the NASA Mariner program, it was a simplified version of the Block I spacecraft of the Ranger program and an exact copy of Mariner 1. The missions of the Mariner 1 and 2 spacecraft are sometimes known as the Mariner R missions. Original plans called for the probes to be launched on the Atlas-Centaur, but serious developmental problems with that vehicle forced a switch to the much smaller Agena B second stage. As such, the design of the Mariner R vehicles was greatly simplified. Far less instrumentation was carried than on the Soviet Venera probes of this period—for example, forgoing a TV camera—as the Atlas-Agena B had only half as much lift capacity as the Soviet 8K78 booster. The Mariner 2 spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral on August 27, 1962, and passed as close as 34,773 kilometers (21,607 mi) to Venus on December 14, 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voyager program</span> Ongoing NASA interstellar program

The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two interstellar probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment to explore the two gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and potentially also the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune - to fly near them while collecting data for transmission back to Earth. After Voyager 1 successfully completed its flyby of Saturn and its moon Titan, it was decided to send Voyager 2 on flybys of Uranus and Neptune.

<i>Ulysses</i> (spacecraft) 1990 robotic space probe; studied the Sun from a near-polar orbit

Ulysses was a robotic space probe whose primary mission was to orbit the Sun and study it at all latitudes. It was launched in 1990 and made three "fast latitude scans" of the Sun in 1994/1995, 2000/2001, and 2007/2008. In addition, the probe studied several comets. Ulysses was a joint venture of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), under leadership of ESA with participation from Canada's National Research Council. The last day for mission operations on Ulysses was 30 June 2009.

<i>Cassini–Huygens</i> NASA/ESA mission sent to study Saturn and its moons (1997–2017)

Cassini–Huygens, commonly called Cassini, was a space-research mission by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a space probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites. The Flagship-class robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA's Cassini space probe and ESA's Huygens lander, which landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit, where it stayed from 2004 to 2017. The two craft took their names from the astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SMART-1</span> European Space Agency satellite that orbited the Moon

SMART-1 was a Swedish-designed European Space Agency satellite that orbited the Moon. It was launched on 27 September 2003 at 23:14 UTC from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. "SMART-1" stands for Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology-1. On 3 September 2006, SMART-1 was deliberately crashed into the Moon's surface, ending its mission.

<i>Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter</i> Canceled NASA orbiter mission to Jupiters icy moons

The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) was a proposed NASA spacecraft designed to explore the icy moons of Jupiter. The main target was Europa, where an ocean of liquid water may harbor alien life. Ganymede and Callisto, which are now thought to also have liquid, salty oceans beneath their icy surfaces, were also targets of interest for the probe.

<i>New Horizons</i> NASA spacecraft launched in 2006

New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a team led by Alan Stern, the spacecraft was launched in 2006 with the primary mission to perform a flyby study of the Pluto system in 2015, and a secondary mission to fly by and study one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) in the decade to follow, which became a mission to 486958 Arrokoth. It is the fifth space probe to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the Solar System.

<i>Pluto Kuiper Express</i> Cancelled NASA flyby mission to Pluto

Pluto Kuiper Express was an interplanetary space probe that was proposed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists and engineers and under development by NASA. The spacecraft was intended to be launched to study Pluto and its moon Charon, along with one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). The proposal was the third of its kind, after the Pluto 350 and a proposal to send a Mariner Mark II spacecraft to Pluto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helios (spacecraft)</span> Pair of sun-orbiting probes launched in 1974-76 by the American and West German space agencies

Helios-A and Helios-B are a pair of probes that were launched into heliocentric orbit to study solar processes. As a joint venture between German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA, the probes were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on December 10, 1974, and January 15, 1976, respectively.

<i>Juno</i> (spacecraft) Second NASA orbiter mission to Jupiter (2011–Present)

Juno is a NASA space probe orbiting the planet Jupiter. It was built by Lockheed Martin and is operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011 UTC, as part of the New Frontiers program. Juno entered a polar orbit of Jupiter on July 5, 2016, UTC, to begin a scientific investigation of the planet. After completing its mission, Juno was originally planned to be intentionally deorbited into Jupiter's atmosphere, but has since been approved to continue orbiting until contact is lost with the spacecraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Europa Clipper</span> NASA space mission en route to Jupiter and Europa

Europa Clipper is a space probe developed by NASA to study Europa, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. It was launched on October 14, 2024. The spacecraft will use gravity assists from Mars on March 1, 2025, and Earth on December 3, 2026, before arriving at Europa in April 2030. The spacecraft will then perform a series of flybys of Europa while in orbit around Jupiter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plasma Wave Subsystem</span> Instrument on board the Voyager space probes

Plasma Wave Subsystem, abbreviated PWS, is an instrument that is on board the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 unmanned probes of the Voyager program. The device is 16 channel step frequency receiver and a low-frequency waveform receiver that can measure electron density. The PWS uses the two long antenna in a V-shape on the spacecraft, which are also used by another instrument on the spacecraft. The instrument recorded data about the Solar System's gas giants, and about the outer reaches of the Heliosphere, and beyond. In the 2010s, the PWS was used to play the "sounds of interstellar space" as the spacecraft can sample the local interstellar medium after they departed the Sun's heliosphere. The heliosphere is a region essentially under the influence of the Sun's solar wind, rather than the local interstellar environment, and is another way of understanding the Solar System in comparison to the objects gravitationally bound around Earth's Sun.

Shensuo, formerly Interstellar Express, is a proposed Chinese National Space Administration program designed to explore the heliosphere and interstellar space. The program will feature two or three space probes that were initially planned to be launched in 2024 and follow differing trajectories to encounter Jupiter to assist them out of the Solar System. The first probe, IHP-1, will travel toward the nose of the heliosphere, while the second probe, IHP-2, will fly near to the tail, skimming by Neptune and Triton in January 2038. There may be another probe—tentatively IHP-3—which would launch in 2030 to explore to the northern half of the heliosphere. IHP-1 and IHP-2 would be the sixth and seventh spacecraft to leave the Solar System, as well as first non-NASA probes to achieve this status.

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