Bill O'Neil and Torrence Johnson present an album of Galileo images to Pope John Paul II.
Copyright 1997. The Vatican.

The Three Galileos Conference, held recently in Padua, Italy, celebrated Galileo, the man; Galileo, the space mission to Jupiter; and Galileo, the new national telescope of Italy. Besides presenting papers to the conference, the Galileo team members discussed their mission with Pope John Paul II, who encouraged them to continue with space exploration.

Project Manager Bill O'Neil and Project Scientist Torrence Johnson received honorary degrees from the University of Padua, where Galileo Galilei taught from 1592-1610 and made the first observations of the four moons named for him. The newly dedicated National Telescope Galileo is located in the Canary Islands.