The Galileo spacecraft was launched in 1989 by the space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-34 mission.
The Galileo spacecraft was launched in 1989 by the space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-34 mission. It arrived at Jupiter on Dec. 7, 1995, a little more than six years later, via gravitational assist flybys of Venus and Earth. Galileo carried 10 science instruments and an atmospheric probe to Jupiter for a comprehensive study of the giant planet’s atmosphere, moons and magnetosphere from orbit. Galileo was the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and launched the first probe into Jupiter’s atmosphere. In 2003, Galileo’s mission was terminated by sending the orbiter into Jupiter’s atmosphere at a speed of nearly 50 kilometers per second to avoid any chance of its contaminating local moons. > Read More
Image Credit: NASA/JPL