The Galileo Mission

Launched in 1989, the Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, when it fired its main engine for a successful orbit capture around Jupiter. On that day, Galileo's atmospheric probe plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and relayed information on the structure and composition of the solar system's largest planet. The spacecraft's orbiter will spend the next two years orbiting the giant planet, studying Jupiter and its moons (encountering one moon during each orbit), and returning a steady stream of images and scientific data. After completing its primary mission, Galileo will then begin its two year extended mission called the Galileo Europa Mission.

General Mission Information

Check out our two Galileo Europa Mission Fact Sheets, Mission at Jupiter and Galileo Europa Mission - Exploring Through 1999
If you're familiar with this site and are looking for a specific page about the mission, try our quick links page.
What is Galileo, anyway? Here is a brief, non-technical summary of the mission. Or, to answer some of the most commonly asked questions about the mission, our FAQ contains this Brief Overview.
The Galileo Tour Guide offers a thorough look at the mission -- the reasons for going to Jupiter; a record of the journey so far; details abou the spacecraft, probe, and science instruments; and information about the orbital satellite tour.
The Mission Overview Chart shows important spacecraft and mission events in a handy, one-page format. The quick-look page has links to the quick-look orbit facts and other concise information summaries.
For details about Galileo's orbital tour, check out the Orbital Tour Highlights. For trajectories, timelines, and other facts about individual orbits and encounters, the Quick-Look Orbit Facts are another useful resource. Or, for information about the current orbit, be sure to visit our Countdown page.
Checkout the Galileo Europa Mission, Galileo's extended mission.
What do CDS, DMS, and ERT mean? Project Galileo has compiled a glossary to help you understand the various terms and abbreviations used in our documents.
Navigation and trajectory information is available in section 8 of the Tour Guide, and navigation questions are answered in the FAQ. Trajectory figures and data are also available on a separate page.
Galileo's New Telecommunications Strategy reveals how engineers and scientists have ensured the successful return of valuable science data despite the failure of the spacecraft's high-gain antenna to open.
For current and past news of the mission, you can read official press releases about the mission as well as articles from The Galileo Messenger, our project newsletter.
For the children, we have The Adventures of Spacecraft Galileo at Jupiter.

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