Galileo Europa Mission Status - June 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
The Galileo spacecraft is operating normally as it continues to process and send to Earth images and science information gathered during its latest Europa flyby, which took place late last month. The spacecraft successfully fired its thrusters to adjust its flight path on June 5, and performed routine propulsion system maintenance on June 10.
Galileo is sending to Earth data that had been stored on its onboard tape recorder, including a picture of a previously unexplored region of Europa. The region appears mottled or blotchy, which may indicate there are contaminants in the ice.
Two observations by the near-infrared spectrometer will provide information on materials within two regions of Europa's leading side. The leading side is located in front as Europa orbits Jupiter, and its position protects it from contamination by charged particles, called plasma, which rotate with Jupiter's magnetic field. These charged particles affect Europa's trailing side as magnetic field lines sweep past Europa.
This week, the instruments that measure magnetic fields and charged particles are providing portions of a high-time-resolution recording of the environment surrounding Europa. This includes measurements of dust, charged particles, and the strength of electric and magnetic fields.
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