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Nasa`s Galileo spacecraft enters Jupiter in suicide plunge
Pasadena (US), Sept 22: Nasa`s aging Galileo spacecraft concluded its 14-year, exploration of Jupiter and its moons with a streaking suicide plunge into the planet`s turbulent atmosphere.
Pasadena (US), Sept 22: Nasa's aging Galileo spacecraft concluded its 14-year, exploration of Jupiter and its moons with a streaking suicide plunge into the planet's
turbulent atmosphere.
The spacecraft passed into the shadow of the Solar
System's largest planet and several minutes later entered its
atmosphere at 0127 IST today. The unmanned spacecraft,
travelling at nearly 173,770 KPH, was torn apart and vaporized
by the heat and friction of its fall through the clouds.
The last word from the spacecraft, including some final scientific measurements, was to arrive on Earth 52 minutes later, after crossing space.
Hundreds of scientists, engineers and their families at Nasa's jet propulsion laboratory counted down the last seconds before the spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere.
"We haven't lost a spacecraft, we've gained a new stepping stone in exploration," said Torrence Johnson, the mission's project scientist.
Rosaly Lopes, another scientist on the mission, called Galileo's plunge "a spectacular end to a spectacular mission".
Despite the glitches that plagued Galileo since its 1989 launch aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, it was one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's most fruitful missions, at a cost of $1.5 billion.
During its thrice-extended mission, Galileo discovered the first moon of an asteroid, witnessed the impact of a comet into Jupiter and provided firm evidence of salty oceans on three of the planet's moons. It returned more than 14,000 images. Bureau Report
The last word from the spacecraft, including some final scientific measurements, was to arrive on Earth 52 minutes later, after crossing space.
Hundreds of scientists, engineers and their families at Nasa's jet propulsion laboratory counted down the last seconds before the spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere.
"We haven't lost a spacecraft, we've gained a new stepping stone in exploration," said Torrence Johnson, the mission's project scientist.
Rosaly Lopes, another scientist on the mission, called Galileo's plunge "a spectacular end to a spectacular mission".
Despite the glitches that plagued Galileo since its 1989 launch aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, it was one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's most fruitful missions, at a cost of $1.5 billion.
During its thrice-extended mission, Galileo discovered the first moon of an asteroid, witnessed the impact of a comet into Jupiter and provided firm evidence of salty oceans on three of the planet's moons. It returned more than 14,000 images. Bureau Report