December 4, 2017 - Overtime for Galileo

Overtime for Galileo After completing two years in orbit around Jupiter, the Galileo spacecraft was given an extra-credit assignment. The Galileo Europa Mission (GEM), which began twenty years ago this week, focused on Jupiter’s moons and included eight additional flybys of Europa (one as close as 200 km or 124 mi), four encounters with Callisto, and two close flybys of Io. GEM lasted two years, at which time Galileo was given the Galileo Millennium Mission, which included joint observations of Jupiter with the Cassini spacecraft as it flew by in late 2000 on its way to Saturn. This Galileo image of Europa shows an intricate pattern of linear fractures on the moon’s icy surface. Newer fractures crosscut older ones, and several wide, dark bands are visible where the surface has spread apart in the past.

Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute

Weekly Calendar

December 4-10, 2017

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 4

Moon at perigee

1639: First transit of Venus observed
1965: Gemini VII launched
1978: Pioneer-Venus 1 orbiter arrives in orbit around Venus
1996: Mars Pathfinder launched
1998: STS-88 Endeavour launched

Friday 8

Regulus 0.7° south of Moon

1964: Apollo A-002 launched
1990: Galileo makes first Earth flyby on way to Jupiter
1992: Galileo makes second Earth flyby on way to Jupiter
2010: SpaceX Dragon 1 launched; first private spacecraft recovered from orbit