Galileo Status Report - September 6, 1996
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Since the Ganymede 2 encounter sequence began on September 1, science instruments onboard have been busy making measurements of Ganymede's magnetic environment, gravity and surface characteristics. Images and other data gathered during the Ganymede encounter will be returned over the next two months, beginning Monday, September 9, and should afford scientists valuable views of Ganymede's icy, fault-ridden terrain. The camera team is looking forward to receiving special stereo images of Ganymede that will provide three-dimensional views of some of the moon's surface features.
Today's flyby also provided the Galileo science team with a unique opportunity to sample the magnetic and particle environment around Ganymede. In its flyby of the same moon two months ago, Galileo experimenters found evidence of a possible magnetic field emanating from Ganymede. Data from the flyby today is pivotal to resolving the question of whether Ganymede indeed has a magnetic field.
Throughout the Ganymede encounter period, Galileo also has been carrying out observations of Jupiter itself, and the moons Io, Callisto and Europa. Some of Galileo's data from the current encounter, mostly measurements of the magnetic field and particle population near Ganymede, are not recorded onboard the spacecraft but are being radioed directly to receivers on Earth.
Galileo's next flyby of a Jovian satellite occurs November 4 when the spacecraft will come within 1,104 kilometers (686 miles) from the moon Callisto.