Pictures of the Galileo Spacecraft
Click on any picture for a closer view.
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Line Drawing of Galileo with Callouts
This figure shows the locations of many of Galileo's main structural
and scientific components.
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Getting Ready for Launch
This photo shows the Galileo spacecraft being prepared for mating to its
Inertial Upper Stage. The
black and gold fabric that covers the spacecraft is
designed to protect it from
both the heat of the sun and the chill of
interplanetary space. The conical
structure near the bottom of the spacecraft
conceals the atmospheric probe,
which dropped into the Jovian atmosphere
on December 7, 1995.
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Environmental Testing
Before being launched from the shuttle, the Galileo orbiter was tested
in a space simulation chamber. The test chamber, located at JPL, is designed to subject spacecraft to approximately the
same environmental conditions that they will encounter in space. The high gain antenna can be seen fully extended.
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Shuttle Launch
The space shuttle Atlantis lifted off in 1989 with Galileo onboard.
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Deployment from the Shuttle
The Galileo spacecraft and its Inertial Upper Stage booster rocket were deployed
from the space shuttle Atlantis October 18, 1989. Shortly thereafter, the
booster rocket fired and separated, sending Galileo on its six-year journey to
the planet Jupiter. Upon its arrival at Jupiter in December 1995, Galileo
released a probe into the atmosphere so that scientists could survey
the composition of the planet's clouds. The orbiter has relayed probe information,
surveyed its surroundings, and photographed Jupiter and some of its major satellites.
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