Galileo Project

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The Galileo Project was a NASA mission of space exploration that involved sending a satellite to Jupiter. The mission was named after the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei.



Galileo was launched from the shuttle Atlantis (OV-104) in October, 1989. It was launched using a small booster rocket with insufficient power to reach Jupiter, requiring the astronauts to "borrow" energy to send it to it's destination.

Journey to Jupiter

Due to the lack of sufficient fuel to reach Jupiter, Galileo was given a flight plan nicknamed "VEEGA" for "Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist.", where it would slingshot once around Venus and twice around Earth in order to reach Jupiter.

Arrival at Jupiter and probe launch

In July, 1995 the Galileo spacecraft launched a probe to begin a solo flight into Jupiter.


To get into orbit around Jupiter, Galileo used it's main engine in a precise maneuver.


Galileo traveled around Jupiter in elongated ovals --- each orbit lasting about two months. By traveling at different distances from Jupiter, Galileo sampled different parts of the planet's extensive magnetosphere. The orbits were designed for close-up flybys of Jupiter's largest moons.

To keep track of Galileo's journey, each orbit was numbered, and named for the moon that the spacecraft encountered at closest range. During orbit "C-3" for example --- the third orbit around Jupiter --- Galileo flew near the moon Callisto.

The data collected on Jupiter and the moons are stored on the on-board tape recorder. During the rest of the orbit, the data was sent to Earth using the low-gain antenna. At the same time, measurements are made of Jupiter's magnetosphere and transmitted back to Earth.


Extended Tour



Approaching Io - Jupiter's innermost moon - meant surviving Jupiter's intense radiation, so these encounters were saved until last. When radiation upset the spacecraft's computer, engineers worked all night to get them back on line. But Galileo came through again, and even discovered a lava fountain erupting on Io.

These successful flybys led to another exciting mission - the Galileo Millennium Mission, extending into 2001. The data was collected on Io and Europa, and studies made of the effects of radiation on a spacecraft close in to Jupiter. The Cassini spacecraft, on its way to Saturn, swings by Jupiter in late 2000 and for a few weeks, both spacecraft observe the giant of our Solar System.

End of mission


External Links

NASA's Project Galileo site

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