Galileo Status Report - June 27, 1996
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
Galileo flew by the icy moon at 06:29 Universal Time today (11:29 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on June 26), passing within 832 kilometers (517 miles) of Ganymede at a relative speed of 7.8 kilometers per second (about 17,400 miles per hour). One-way light time from the spacecraft to Earth at that time was 35 minutes, so the spacecraft's signal showing that the closest approach has occurred was received on Earth at 12:04 a.m. PDT today.
"The data tell us that we had an excellent flyby," said Galileo Project Manager William J. O'Neil. Ground controllers detected changes in the frequency Galileo's radio signal as it swung by Ganymede due to the Doppler effect, confirming that the flyby took place as planned. In addition, configuration changes executed by the spacecraft shortly after the flyby confirmed that it was executing its command sequence as planned.
Team members expect to receive additional, detailed telemetry from Galileo today with more information on performance of various spacecraft systems during the flyby.
The first images and other scientific data from the flyby will be sent to Earth during the following days. If all goes well, the first images will be released at a news briefing tentatively scheduled for July 10.