News Briefing Wraps Galileo's Spectacular Primary Mission

Douglas Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC                  December 12, 1997
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Jane Platt
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)


NOTE TO EDITORS: N97-91

NEWS BRIEFING WRAPS GALILEO'S SPECTACULAR PRIMARY MISSION; JOURNEY CONTINUES WITH CLOSE EUROPA FLYBY

Just six hours after NASA's Galileo spacecraft makes its closest-ever pass above Jupiter's icy moon Europa, scientists and engineers will present highlights of the spacecraft's primary mission and preview its two-year extended mission at a press briefing. The briefing, to be held on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. EST, also will feature new images from Galileo's previous Europa flyby on Nov. 6, the final encounter of the primary mission. The briefing will originate from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, and will be carried live on NASA Television, with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters at participating NASA Centers.

Galileo concluded its historic primary mission on Dec. 7 after spending two years studying Jupiter, its magnetosphere and its four largest moons.

The spacecraft immediately embarked on a two-year extension, called the Galileo Europa Mission, with eight planned Europa flybys, four Callisto flybys and one or two Io encounters, depending on spacecraft health. Scientists hope to learn more about the tantalizing prospect that liquid oceans may lie underneath Europa's icy crust. The first flyby of the Galileo Europa Mission will take place on Dec. 16 at 7:03 a.m. EST, at an altitude of only 124 miles (200 kilometers) above Europa, with the signal reaching Earth at 7:49 a.m. EST. This will be the closest approach to any planetary body by the Galileo spacecraft.

During the primary mission, Galileo returned about one gigabyte of data and hundreds of high-resolution pictures. At the briefing, scientists will summarize key findings from the spacecraft's abundant harvest of scientific information, including:

Ganymede's magnetic field
Volcanic ice flows and melting or "rafting" on Europa's surface that support the premise of liquid oceans underneath
Studies of water vapor, lightning and aurora on Jupiter
The discovery of a hydrogen and carbon dioxide atmosphere on Callisto
The presence of metallic cores in Europa, Io and Ganymede and the lack of evidence for such a core in Callisto
High volcanic activity on Io, with dramatic changes since the Voyagers

The Galileo spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter on Dec. 7, 1995, becoming the first mission to orbit one of the Solar System's outer planets. It also deployed a parachute-borne probe into Jupiter's outer atmosphere. JPL manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

NASA Television is available through GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees west longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio at 6.8 MHz. The new images will be released on the Galileo Internet home page at the following URL:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/

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