Discussion: Galileo Plunges Into Jupiter

[Fraser]

SUMMARY: NASA's Galileo spacecraft was intentionally crashed into Jupiter on Sunday, ending 14 years of service to science and exploration. The spacecraft entered Jupiter's thick atmosphere and disintegrated at 1857 GMT (2:57pm EDT), but the last signals arrived at Earth nearly an hour later because of the great distance to 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.


Comments or questions about this story? Feel free to share your thoughts.

[Locke]

It's sad that it had to go down, but it was worth it, to preserve the life. Fraser, I tried to reply to this, but it said I wasn't allowed to so I clicked "fast reply." Do you know why?

[Fraser]

My server was up and down all day, so that could have contributed.