Uncrewed spacecraftMission concluded
Galileo orbiter and atmospheric probe
Jupiter orbiter and atmospheric probe
Galileo and launched at about 5,250 pounds (2,380 kilograms) for orbiter and probe and operated under NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory with international instrument partners. It carried orbiter imaging, spectroscopy, fields, particles, dust, and radio instruments plus a 743-pound atmospheric entry probe. Galileo discovered evidence for a salty ocean beneath Europa, revealed Ganymede's magnetic field, investigated volcanic Io and cratered Callisto, watched Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 strike Jupiter, and sampled the planet's atmosphere before a protective disposal into Jupiter.
Uncrewed spacecraft dossier
Flight profile
- Launch
- October 18, 1989
Vehicle record
- Flights
- 1 documented mission
- First flight
- Galileo
- Final flight
- Galileo
- Arrival / encounter
- Jupiter arrival December 7, 1995
- Operator
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory with international instrument partners
- Launch vehicle
- Space Shuttle Atlantis
- Mass
- about 5,250 pounds (2,380 kilograms) for and
- Destination
- Jupiter system
- Payload
- Orbiter imaging, spectroscopy, fields, particles, dust, and radio instruments plus a 743-pound atmospheric entry probe
- Outcome
- Successful; orbiter entered Jupiter September 21, 2003