Galileo Back Online After Failed Io Flyby

JOVIAN DREAMS

The Lava Pits Of Tupan Patera

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Wonderful colors in a volcanic crater named Tupan Patera on Jupiter's moon Io, as seen in this image from NASA's Galileo spacecraft, show varied results of lava interacting with sulfur-rich materials. The colorfulness of the image is only slightly enhanced from what the human eye would see on the scene. The red in the image includes a small amount of infrared energy. Tupan Patera, named after a Brazilian thunder god, was seen as an active hot spot in earlier Galileo observations, but those low-resolution views did not show details of volcanic activity. This image taken in October 2001 at a resolution of 135 meters (443 feet) per picture element reveals the complex nature of the crater. Tupan is now clearly shown to be a volcanic depression, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) across, surrounded by cliffs about 900 meters (3000 feet) tall. In the center is a large area that must be higher than the rest of the crater floor beca use it has not been covered by the dark lavas. Much of the area is coated with a diffuse red deposit that Galileo scientists believe has condensed from sulfur gas escaping from volcanic vents. The floor of Tupan is covered with a surreal pattern of dark black, green, red, and yellow materials. The black material is recent, still-warm lava. The yellow is presumed to be a mix of sulfurous compounds, and the green appears to form where red sulfur has interacted with the dark lavas. While Galileo scientists have found previous evidence for both molten sulfur and molten rock on Io, this image shows the best evidence to date of chemical reactions taking place between the two. The intermingled patches of sulfur and lava are difficult to explain. The yellowish sulfur may be melting from within the crater walls over solidified but warm lava. The sulfur may boil away from the areas too hot for liquid sulfur to sit on, leaving patches where the dark lava is still visible. North is to the top of the image and the Sun illuminates the surface from the upper right. Image produced by: Elizabeth Turtle and Paul Geissler, Planetary Image Research Lab. (PIRL), Lunar and Planetary Lab. (LPL), University of Arizona

Pasadena - Jan 18, 2002
Galileo spacecraft resumed gathering scientific information at about 4:00 today Universal Time (8:00 p.m. Jan. 17 Pacific Time) after commands radioed from Earth took the Jupiter orbiter out of the passive standby mode it entered on Thursday.

Galileo passed within about 102 kilometers (63 miles) of Jupiter's moon Io on Thursday. Planned observations for the remainder of the spacecraft's current swing near Jupiter include a series of images of the planet's atmosphere, a farewell color study of its icy moon Europa and navigational imaging of the small moon Amalthea.

Galileo hit its target point for the Io flyby so accurately that a scheduled post-encounter firing of thrusters to fine-tune the trajectory was cancelled as unnecessary, said Dr. Eilene Theilig, Galileo project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The close flyby was calculated to use Io's gravity to put Galileo on course for its next encounters. Galileo will pass near Amalthea in November 2002 and plunge to its demise in Jupiter's crushing atmosphere in September 2003.

"As expected, visiting Io has proved to be a challenging and risky endeavor," Theilig said.

"It's disappointing not to get the observations of Io that were planned for this encounter, but I am very proud of the flight team that has kept Galileo functioning in orbit more than three times longer than originally planned and revived it once more yesterday."

Galileo detected a computer reset and placed itself in a standby or "safe" mode Thursday at 13:41 Universal Time (5:41 PacificTime), about half an hour before its closest approach to Io. The reset was apparently caused by exposure to the intense radiation environment at Io's distance from Jupiter.

Since the spacecraft began orbiting Jupiter in 1995, it has endured a cumulative radiation exposure about three-and-a-half times what it was originally designed to withstand.

NASA has repeatedly extended Galileo's original two-year mission in orbit. The spacecraft is now nearly out of the hydrazine propellant needed to keep its antenna pointed toward Earth.

Knowing they would eventually lose contact and control of the spacecraft, the Galileo team chose the planned impact with Jupiter to ensure there was no chance the spacecraft might hit Europa.

One of Galileo's important discoveries has been the likelihood of a melted saltwater ocean under Europa's icy crust, making that moon of great interest for future study of the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Galileo was launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis on Oct. 18, 1989. After a long journey to Jupiter, Galileo began orbiting the huge planet on Dec. 7, 1995, and successfully completed its two-year primary mission in 1997. That has been followed by three mission extensions. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

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JOVIAN DREAMS

Galileo Goes Into Standby During Final Io Approach

Pasadena - Jan 17, 2002
While approaching Jupiter's moon Io on Thursday, during the seventh year of its mission around Jupiter, NASA's Galileo spacecraft placed itself into standby mode, awaiting further commands from Earth.

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