Galileo Galilei, an Italian Renaissance scholar who discovered Jupiter’s main moons in 1610, was honored with the spacecraft’s name.On October 18, 1989, the shuttle Atlantis launched the Galileo spacecraft into orbit. A two-stage Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) rocket launched after the spacecraft was freed from the cargo hold, accelerating the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and toward the planet Venus.For two years, the project Galileo spacecraft [dry mass orbiter of 4,140 lb (1,880 kg)] was planned to examine Jupiter’s atmosphere, satellites, and magnetosphere. Galileo artist’s concept for the Galileo orbiter helped it become the very first spacecraft to perform actual measurements within Jupiter’s atmosphere using an instrumented probe. It may also be the first spacecraft orbiting Jupiter to perform long-term observations of Jupiter, its magnetosphere, and satellites.Galileo has already achieved a ‘first’ by being the first spacecraft to collide with an asteroid and photograph the asteroid’s moon.Galileo was deliberately destroyed after nearly 14 years of observations to preserve one of its own discoveries: a saltwater ocean beneath the ice on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.On September 21, 2003, the Galileo mission duration came to an end when the spacecraft was deliberately sent into Jupiter’s atmosphere, where it was destroyed. Galileo’s scientists are still studying the data is collected to this day.The two Voyager spacecraft probes that were deployed into the Jupiter orbiter probe by the Galileo spacecraft to examine all four of the solar system’s giant planets at close range are known as Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.If you like this article, you may find it interesting to read these facts articles: Constantine facts and Galileo spacecraft facts here at Kidadl.Galileo’s Spacecraft Invention HistoryA space shuttle named ‘Atlantis’ launched Galileo’s spacecraft into Jupiter’s orbit on October 18, 1989. It was subsequently launched onto a circular path toward Jupiter during flybys of Venus (February 10, 1990) and Earth (February 10, 1990). It benefited from a number of gravitational assist methods, or slingshot procedures on December 8, 1990, and December 8, 1992, respectively.During the interplanetary flight and thereafter within Jupiter’s magnetosphere, Galileo was equipped with a scan platform that held four optical instruments as well as sensors to measure the components and fields of something like the solar wind.During its maiden orbit around Jupiter, the Galileo spacecraft came closest to Jupiter. The orbits of Venus and Earth, Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor, are approximately half the distance between them.Galileo’s Spacecraft FeaturesThe spacecraft was the first Gaspra asteroid flyby, and to discover an asteroid moon, small Dactyl circling asteroid Ida. When Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter, it offered the only direct observations of a comet impacting with a planet.During its 14-year voyage to Jupiter, the Galileo spacecraft achieved a number of notable firsts. A severe radiation band above Jupiter’s cloud tops, helium in almost the same concentration as the Sun, a broad and fast resurfacing of the Galilean moon Io due to volcanism, and a magnetic field at Ganymede are among the finds.The orbiter was equipped with a tiny probe that became the first to sample a gas planet’s atmosphere. Temperature, pressure, chemical composition, cloud features, sunlight, energy within the planet, and lightning were all measured by the probe.The probe went 124.3 mi (200 km) into Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere during its 58-minute existence before being crushed, melted, and/or destroyed by the tremendous pressure and temperature.The first comprehensive maps of Jupiter’s main moons were created using Galileo’s data. It also provided scientists with the most thorough view of the planet’s magnetic field and radiation bands to date. Jupiter’s moon Io consists of dramatic-appearing volcanoes as well.Why was Galileo’s spacecraft made?The Jupiter system had previously been visited by four spacecraft (Pioneer 10 and 11, then Voyager 1 and 2), but Galileo’s mission was the first to reach Jupiter, or rather the orbit around Jupiter planet. Galileo, like the famous astronomer for whom it was named, would examine the ‘King of Planets’ in greater detail than had ever been conceivable before.The Galileo spacecraft carried 10 science instruments as well as a fall probe that it launched directly into Jupiter’s atmosphere to achieve this.Galileo’s projected launch vehicle also sparked debate. Then, in 1986, the Challenger exploded, killing seven men and stopping the fleet for two years, just as the atmospheric probe was preparing for a space shuttle flight.The spacecraft, named after the scientist Galileo Galilei, was launched from the cargo compartment of the space shuttle Atlantis on October 18, 1989. The Galileo probe sped up to conserve fuel by flying past Venus and Earth twice, with the intention of arriving at Jupiter in 1995.Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was one of Galileo’s first scientific goals. Jupiter’s gravity had dragged the comet closer to the planet, shattering it into almost 20 pieces. The astronomy community watched with bated breath when the shards blasted into Jupiter in July 1994. Galileo arrived at Jupiter at the time, and he took some pictures of the meteors.On its route to Jupiter, the spacecraft experienced ‘interplanetary dust storms,’ which were likely caused by particles from within the Jovian moon and the Jovian system. Galileo tracked 20,000 dust particles every day at one time, compared to one particle every three days on average.Explorations Made By Galileo’s SpacecraftGalileo was the first spacecraft to circle a planet beyond our solar orbit.It was the first spacecraft to send an atmospheric probe to an extraterrestrial planet.It accomplished the first asteroid flyby and imaging mission (Gaspra, and later, Ida).It was the first and only first-hand sighting of a comet interacting with the atmosphere of a planet (Shoemaker-Levy 9).It was the first spacecraft to spend enough time in a massive planet’s magnetosphere to study its global structure and behavior.Galileo circled Jupiter for about eight years, passing close to all of Jupiter’s main moons. Its camera and nine other pieces of equipment returned data that allowed scientists to discover, among other things, that Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa had a subterranean ocean with more water than Earth’s entire quantity. They discovered that the moon Io’s volcanoes resurface the little planet regularly and fast. They discovered that Ganymede, the enormous moon, has its own magnetic field. Galileo also had a tiny probe that it launched and sent far into Jupiter’s atmosphere, where it took measurements for over an hour before being crushed by the immense pressure.The surface characteristics of Europa (Jupiter’s icy moon Europa) uncovered by Galileo imaging suggested the possibility of a subsurface ocean. The mission came to an end in September 2003, when the power orbiter plummeted into Jupiter’s atmosphere to prevent a possible collision with Europa, which might have jeopardized future studies of the moon and its underlying ocean.The Galileo spacecraft has studied Jupiter’s atmosphere and the surface composition of its satellites. The spacecraft’s course has profited from a series of earth gravity-assist by interactions with one of Jupiter’s moons after each Jupiter orbit. Numerous close encounters with Jupiter’s moons occurred in this fashion, with some coming within 310.7 mi (500 km) of the planet’s surface gravitational force.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Galileo (spacecraft) facts: How it help study the solar system better then why not take a look at Ha Long Bay to learn all about this cool, Vietnamese tourist island or Comet Hale Bopp to learn curious solar system facts for kids.
Galileo Galilei, an Italian Renaissance scholar who discovered Jupiter’s main moons in 1610, was honored with the spacecraft’s name.
