Galileo Mission Status - Febuary 17, 1998
MEDIA RELATIONS 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
NASA's Galileo spacecraft successfully flew over Europa at an altitude of 3,552 kilometers (2,207 miles) on Tues., Feb. 10. Because of the approaching solar conjunction, the spacecraft gathered some radio science data, but no other science information. During solar conjunction, the Sun passes between Earth and the spacecraft, hindering communication for a period of about 2-1/2 weeks. Therefore, the spacecraft will not transmit science data to Earth until the conjunction period ends.
During the Feb. 10 flyby, the spacecraft did transmit to Earth an observation taken during its closest-ever Europa flyby, which occurred on Dec. 16. During that encounter, Galileo passed above Europa's icy surface at an altitude of only 200 kilometers (124 miles). The latest observation returned to Earth was designed to help scientists learn more about the composition of an area of Europa characterized by the Pwyll crater.
The Galileo flight team adjusted the spacecraft's flight path on Sat., Feb. 7, to prepare for the Feb. 10 Europa flyby. Another flight path adjustment was made on Fri., Feb. 13 to make sure Galileo is on track for its next Europa encounter, scheduled for March 29. Both maneuvers were successful, even though special measures were utilized to counteract the effects of a gyroscope anomaly which has occurred twice since the Dec. 16 Europa flyby. Engineers believe solid state switches in one of the gyro units may be reacting to the effects of radiation from Jupiter, but they continue their analysis of the situation.
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