Original Caption Released with Image:
This color image of the Earth was taken by the Galileo spacecraft on December
11 as it departed on its 3-year flight to Jupiter, about 2 1/2 days after the
second Earth flyby. The distance to Earth is about 1.9 million kilometers
(1.2 million miles). Antarctica is visible at the bottom of the image, and
dawn is rising over the Pacific Ocean. The Galileo project, whose primary
mission is the exploration of the Jupiter system in 1995-97, is managed for
NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
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Galileo Solid State Imaging Team Leader: Dr. Michael J. S. Belton
The SSI Education and Public Outreach webpages were originally created and
managed by Matthew Fishburn and Elizabeth Alvarez with significant assistance
from Kelly Bender, Ross Beyer, Detrick Branston, Stephanie Lyons, Eileen Ryan,
and Nalin Samarasinha.
Last updated: September 17, 1999, by Matthew Fishburn
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Project Galileo Homepage
Website Curator: Leslie Lowes
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