By The Way...

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A moment's reflection, if you will, for the Galileo Spacecraft, which is less than a day from vaporizing in the thick, dense Jovian atmosphere. NASA decided to drive Galileo into Jupiter's atmosphere for an interesting reason: Galileo's research in the moons of Jupiter hinted at the possibility of life on at least one of those moons (Europa, which astronomers suspect has a liquid ocean underneath a thick layer of ice). Even after more than a decade in space, there's a remote chance that microbes from Earth may still be stowaways on Galileo. If Galileo remains in orbit, it might one day crash into Europa, possibily contaminating it with our microbes.

So rather than risk that, Galileo is taking a dive into Jupiter. As a gaseous planet, it seems rather more unlikely to harbor life. And even if it did, even the hardiest of Earth's microbes are unlikely to survive the metal-vaporizing heat Galileo will experience falling through Jupiter's clouds. It's the smart choice.

Still, it's a little bit sad. The Galileo spacecraft is one of NASA's unqualified triumphs -- even broken (the spacecraft's main antenna never deployed, requiring NASA to make creative use of a backup antenna) Galileo's done some amazing things, from discovering dozens of new Jovain moons to viewing the famous impact of the Shoemaker-Levy comet into Jupiter. Even as they hurl into Jupiter's gravity well, scientists will still try to eke out last-minute information about Jupiter's atmosphere from Galileo. It's done so well at its job that it's a shame its fate is a fiery death.

So again: A moment's reflection for Galileo: The little spacecraft that could.

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• #2 Comment from johnmscalziEntry Author 
  9/21/03 9:27 AM | Permalink

  Thanks!
• #1 Comment from oz61587 
  9/21/03 1:36 AM | Permalink

  Hey John I've seen you on OPM man you rock!!