[meteorite-list] Galileo Discovers Objects Near Jupiter's Inner Moon Amalthea

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:10:07 2004
Message-ID: <200304102024.NAA06858_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
April 9, 2003

NEWS RELEASE: 2003-049

Galileo Millennium Mission Status

NASA's Galileo spacecraft serendipitously discovered seven to nine
space rocks near Jupiter's inner moon Amalthea when Galileo flew past
that moon five months ago.

Galileo detected the objects as bright flashes seen by its star
scanner, an onboard telescope used to determine the spacecraft's
orientation by sighting stars. Information from the star scanner was
recorded onto Galileo's tape recorder during the flyby and transmitted
to Earth in subsequent months. Experts at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., are analyzing the data to estimate the
sizes of the objects, which may be anywhere from gravel to
stadium-size rocks.

JPL engineers Paul Fieseler and Shadan Ardalan reported the findings
to the International Astronomical Union. The star tracker saw nine
flashes during the flyby, but two may be duplicate sightings.

"It is likely that these bodies have either been gravitationally
captured into an orbit near Amalthea or have been split off of the
moon as a result of past collisions," Fieseler said.

The Amalthea encounter was Galileo's last flyby of a jovian moon.
After more than seven years in orbit around Jupiter, the spacecraft
has nearly depleted its supply of propellant needed for pointing its
antenna toward Earth and controlling its flight path. While still
controllable, it has been put on a course for impact into Jupiter next
September. The maneuver prevents the risk of Galileo drifting to an
unwanted impact with the moon Europa, where it has discovered evidence
of a subsurface ocean that is of interest as a possible habitat for
extraterrestrial life.

Additional information about Galileo and the discoveries is available
at

http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov

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.

-end-
Received on Thu 10 Apr 2003 04:24:15 PM PDT