IRTF Images of Jupiter at Time of Galileo Probe Entry (December 7, 1995).
These images of Jupiter were taken as the Galileo probe entered Jupiter's atmosphere. These images will
help the scientists characterize the
cloud features where the probe had entered and will provide valuable information
when correlated with the probe data measurements.
A new documentary called "On Jupiter" will
be aired on the Discovery Channel.
Now that Galileo is in orbit around Jupiter, you may be wondering when
is the closest flyby of a satellite in each of Galileo's orbits, or
how near to the surface does the spacecraft fly, or what are the
scientific objectives for each orbit? See Highlights
of the Jupiter Orbital Tour for more details.
We have some new computer-generated Jupiter overhead images available on the
Countdown to Jupiter home page. We will continue to update these images daily (and even more
frequently during each moon encounter) throughout
Galileo's two year orbital tour.
Live Chat with David Levy
Discovery Channel Online will conduct a live chat session with David Levy to discuss the Galileo mission.
Dr. Ed Stone, the Director of JPL, will be interviewed about Galileo on "Nightline" on Tuesday, December 19
and on the "Today" show on Wednesday, December 20.
Galileo Status Report
First round of probe data transmitted to Earth. Solar conjunction has begun.
What's New (December 14, 1995)
A press conference is scheduled for December 19, 1995 at 10 AM PST for the preliminary
results of the data collected by the Galileo probe. The press conference
will be held at Ames Research Center and will be broadcast live on
NASA TV.
Galileo Galilei's Finger
The middle finger of Galileo's right hand is on display in
a museum in Italy. No kidding!
Pic du Midi Observatory Images of Probe Entry Site (December 5, 1995)
These images of Jupiter taken just prior to the Galileo probe entry has helped
the scientists characterize the
cloud features where the probe had entered, and will provide more information
when correlated with the probe data measurements.
What's New (December 13, 1995)
Interest is still very high on our home page. There were over
238,000 accesses yesterday!.
Galileo Status Report
The probe data return has started. The Galileo Probe lasted 57 minutes in
Jupiter's atmosphere!
What's New (December 8, 1995)
Galileo Status Report
Orbital Trim Maneuver #1 Cancelled, New Arrival Date for Ganymede.
Galileo Home Page Access Statistics (December 7, 1995).
There were 250,000 accesses to this home page yesterday, and over 4.0 gigabytes
of data
was transferred!
Galileo on CNN
CNN plans to begin its coverage of Galileo at Jupiter at 4 a.m.
PST time with a taped package of pre-arrival information. The
network begins its "live" coverage from JPL at 9 a.m. PST.
They plan to have live interviews with JPL personnel on the hour
throughout the day.
Galileo Home Page Access Statistics (December 6, 1995).
There were 262,000 accesses to this home page yesterday, and over 5.8 gigabytes of data
was transferred!
A Mini-FAQ has been added to the JOI Doppler
Plot Home
Page. Find out how we can monitor the progress of the Jupiter Orbit Insertion
burn by observing the spacecraft's signal.
Galileo Home Page Access Statistics (December 5, 1995).
There were 170,000 accesses to this home page yesterday, and over 4 gigabytes of data
was transferred!
The Jovian Sytem: A Scale Model
An exercise for students to give them an idea of the size and scale of
the Jovian system, and to also illustrate the Galileo spacecraft's
arrival day trajectory.
What's New (December 5, 1995)
Here's the latest addtions to the Frequently
Asked Questions:
Why did the tape recorder rewind for 15 hours?
Why is it now not possible to photograph Io and Europa on December 7, as
planned?
When will Galileo surpass Hubble's imaging capabilities?
What data can we expect to see on December 7, when the spacecraft arrives
at Jupiter?
Will there be any images released prior to Dec. 7?
When can I see images from the Probe's plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere?
When can we expect to see the first images from the spacecraft?
Since Galileo's insulation is very effective, why don't they use it in
houses?
Shouldn't Galileo's speed be increasing as the orbiter nears Jupiter?
Will Earthbound observers be able to see the "flash" from the Probe's
entry?
Fox 11 News will run a pre-Jupiter arrival story tonight (Dec 4) during
their 10pm newscast. They will also run a story tomorrow morning
(Dec 5) during their "Good Day LA" broadcast. The story will also be
broadcast on the FOX Network Feed to stations around the country so if
you have friends or relatives in Washington DC, Chicago, NY, etc. tell
them to check it out.
Coming Soon! During the Jupiter orbit insertion burn on December 7, 1995,
we'll have live doppler data available from Galileo. The doppler data will be used to monitor progress of the engine burn, and
will be plotted and updated every minute. The engine burn
is scheduled to start at 5:19 PST (Earth Receive Time) and will last 49
minutes. Also, available is the doppler plot used to confirm the Galileo
probe release on July 13, 1995.
An hour-long documentary called "On Jupiter" is slated to air on
the Discovery Channel on Sunday, December 3, 1995, at 9 p.m. PST, and on British
and Australian TV the same day. Check your local TV listings for the time
of the show in your area.
The Galileo team has an honorable tradition of commemorating important mission events by writing songs about them. Here are a few numbers that were written for a recent "Outer Planets" lunchtime event.
We'll be putting additional songs here in the months to come.
The Galileo Countdown to Jupiter Home Page is now
available!
This page is dedicated to Galileo's arrival at Jupiter, with
Jupiter approach images, hourly updates, the Galileo spacecraft position updated every minute, and more.
If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area on November 21, stop
by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for a Galileo lecture
by Dr. Torrence Johnson. It's free and open to the public.
What's New (November 9, 1995)
A new feature has been added to the home page: Galileo Amazing Fact of the Day.
A new fact will appear every week day, Monday through Friday.
Reta Beebe of New Mexico State University has released the latest
Hubble Space Telescope image of Jupiter showing
the location of the Galileo's probe entry point.
If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area on October 25, stop
by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for a Galileo lecture
by Dr. Karen Buxbaum. It's free and open to the public.
Check out the ONLINE FROM JUPITER
Mid-October 1995 - January 1996!
Interested in exploring the solar system, or Jupiter? Curious about what it's
like working "behind the scenes" on NASA's Galileo mission? If you have
internet access, or even just a phone, you can peek over the shoulders of
Galileo's scientists and engineers, and (for K-12 students and teachers) ask
them questions! Check out the press release or the nifty handbill for further information.
The Galileo Slide Set is now
available, including a self-running version. Check it out!
What's New (September 19, 1995)
Are you a teacher looking for something new for your classroom? A parent with
children who are eager to learn about space? Check out the
Galileo Education Resources page. Expect
lots of updates here over the next two years!
New Additions to the FAQ:
What are the orbital elements for the spacecraft?
How big is an SSI image?
Without the HGA, how long does it take to return a single image?
How many images are currently planned? How many would have been
planned if the HGA had opened?
What is the cost of the Galileo mission?
I see that the Orbit Deflection Maneuver is also called Trajectory Change
Maneuver (TCM) 25. Does this mean that it was the 25th TCM performed since
launch?
Can the probe be retargetted to the SL-9 impact points?
The Telecommunications Strategy Fact Sheet says that there will be performance-enhancing capabilities added at the Canberra Deep
Space Network 70-m antenna. Why aren't ultracones (which significantly lower
the system noise, and hence boost the performance by roughly 20-25%) being
installed at the Goldstone and Madrid sites as well?
If the stuck HGA ribs were to come free, could the HGA be immediately used? How
would we know that they had come free?
How much data is really lost when "lossy" compression is used?
Are the Deep Space Network hardware and software changes being made for Galileo
usable by other projects?
Why weren't the new data compression methods originally planned to be used
with the High Gain Antenna to get even more data back?
What's New (July 11, 1995)
A fact sheet detailing Galileo's New
Telecommunications Strategy tells you everything you ever wanted
to know about how Galileo willfulfill its mission without use of the
High Gain Antenna.
What's New (July 10, 1995)
New additions to the FAQ: Why does Galileo store
imaging
data on the data recorder, and how much data can the recorder hold? How
high will the data rate get, and how is it affected by the distance between
the Earth and Jupiter? Why does Galileo's speed change? What limits the
spacecraft's lifetime?
What's New (July 5, 1995)
When is the next engine maintenance scheduled? When is the first
encounter
with Ganymede? All of these details and more can be found
in the (technical)
Mission Plan Timeline.
Deep Space Network
Pictures: ET could "phone
home" relatively easily compared to what's
needed for Galileo to
talk to Mission Control. Here are pictures of the
giant radio
antennas used to communicate with the spacecraft.
What's
New (May 3, 1995)
New additions to
the FAQ: Will the Probe
be able to see Jupiter's surface? How does
the spacecraft
orient itself, and how does its software work? Why isn't
the
Orbiter going to take a picture of the Probe moving away, and
what
happens to spacecraft communications when the Earth and
Jupiter are on
opposite sides of the Sun?
What's New (April 7, 1995)
When
is the closest flyby of a satellite in each of Galileo's orbits
around
Jupiter? How near to the surface does the spacecraft fly?
What are the
scientific objectives for each orbit? See
Highlights
of the Orbital Tour
for details.
What's New (March 30, 1995)
Look
at the spacecraft's flight path to Jupiter, the
Probe descent mission
layout, Galileo's tour among Jupiter's moons,
and more, in the Navigation
and Trajectory
Figures section.
Find
out about why we have a camera on board the spacecraft,
and the Probe's
timer, in the new additions
to the Galileo FAQ
The
Trajectory
Status now gives
distances in astronomical units or Jupiter radii,
light minutes
and light seconds. Plus, there's a count-down clock to
the
upcoming Io encounter.
