On November 5, 2002, NASA's old Galileo spacecraft was almost out of fuel. But the Jupiter mission still had some science to do.
‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com
Galileo flew by a small moon called Amalthea. Amalthea is small, but it’s interesting for scientists. The moon is the reddest object in our solar system. It also generates more heat than it gets from the sun. Scientists think Amalthea creates electrical currents as it orbits in Jupiter's huge magnetic field. Near this little moon, strong radiation from Jupiter is dangerous for spacecraft. The flyby caused some problems for Galileo. The spacecraft went into safe mode only 30 minutes after going past Amalthea. NASA said it was ready for problems, because Galileo was on its last legs, and the radiation near Amalthea was strong. However, NASA quickly fixed the problem and got Galileo working again. Less than a year later, Galileo threw itself into Jupiter's atmosphere. The spacecraft was crushed by the high pressure in Jupiter's atmosphere, but its data still survives on Earth.
‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com
Galileo flew by a small moon called Amalthea. Amalthea is small, but it’s interesting for scientists. The moon is the reddest object in our solar system. It also generates more heat than it gets from the sun. Scientists think Amalthea creates electrical currents as it orbits in Jupiter's huge magnetic field. Near this little moon, strong radiation from Jupiter is dangerous for spacecraft. The flyby caused some problems for Galileo. The spacecraft went into safe mode only 30 minutes after going past Amalthea. NASA said it was ready for problems, because Galileo was on its last legs, and the radiation near Amalthea was strong. However, NASA quickly fixed the problem and got Galileo working again. Less than a year later, Galileo threw itself into Jupiter's atmosphere. The spacecraft was crushed by the high pressure in Jupiter's atmosphere, but its data still survives on Earth.
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:04On November 5th, 2002, NASA's old Galileo spacecraft was almost out of fuel.
00:09But the Jupiter mission still had some science to do.
00:12Galileo flew by a small moon called Amalthea.
00:15This little moon is the reddest object in our solar system.
00:18It also generates more heat than it gets from the sun.
00:21Scientists think Amalthea creates electrical currents as it orbits in Jupiter's huge magnetic field.
00:26The flyby caused some problems for Galileo.
00:29The spacecraft went into safe mode only 30 minutes after going past Amalthea.
00:33NASA said it was ready for problems because Galileo was on its last legs,
00:37and the radiation near Amalthea was strong.
00:40However, NASA quickly fixed the problem and got Galileo working again.
00:44Less than a year later, Galileo threw itself into Jupiter's atmosphere.
00:48The spacecraft was crushed by the high pressure, but its data still survives on Earth.
00:52And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:55NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology