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Galileo's Influence On NASA

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There are lots of intriguing information about NASA’s space probe, Galileo. Galileo’s mission was a very valuable. The results of the mission have been very beneficial to NASA. The technology of the spacecraft was phenomenal.
Galileo’s main purpose was to study Jupiter. Galileo studied the Jovian atmosphere. Galileo investigated the chemical composition of Jupiter’s atmosphere. Which turns out, is mainly hydrogen. Along with that, Galileo also examined the atmosphere's circulation and dynamics, the upper atmosphere, ionosphere, characterize the structure of the atmosphere and the alteration of energetic charged particles. In addition to studying the atmosphere, Galileo examines Jupiter’s 4 largest moons, also known as the Galilean satellites, …show more content…

Galileo started off the mission by launching off on October 18th, 1989 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The spacecraft entered Jupiter’s orbit on December 8, 1995. Its mission ended and it decayed into the atmosphere on September 21, 2003. Galileo also discovered various meaningful results such as certain measurements in the atmosphere. For example, the density and temperature of the upper atmosphere is greatly higher than expected. On the other hand, the lower atmosphere’s temperature is closer to what was expected. Additionally, it was analyzed that the deep atmosphere was dryer than expected. Furthermore, it was discovered that the scientific instruments on the spacecraft worked successfully. While on the mission, Galileo detected a radiation belt between Jupiter’s ring and upper atmospheric layers. It is believed that Jupiter’s radiation belt is 10 times stronger than Van Allen, which is the radiation belt near Earth. Galileo also studied the winds on Jupiter. It found out that the winds are strong alternating east-west jetstreams, which is dissimilar to Earth’s wind system. The winds on Jupiter below the clouds are 540km/hr (330mph). On Galileo’s mission, there were many important firsts. Galileo had a close flyby of an asteroid, Gaspra. Galileo also discovered a satellite of an asteroid. The satellite was named Dactyl and the asteroid was Ida. Galileo was also the first atmospheric probe to enter Jupiter's atmosphere. The spacecraft was also the first to enter Jupiter’s orbit and go around it. Galileo also directly observed a comet impacting a planet. The comet was Shoemaker-Levy 9. But by far, the most important discovery was discovering liquid ocean water under Europa’s (one of Jupiter’s moons)

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