Galileo: mission and targets

Project start

October 1, 1977

Declared end

September 21, 2003

The start the archive declares is the start of the project, not the launch, and an end it does not declare does not mean the mission is still running.

Targets you can open in 3D:

• Ida
• Earth
• Jupiter
• Venus
• Moon
• Amalthea
• Callisto
• Europa
• Ganymede
• Io

A declared target is what the archive files the mission’s data under, not a record of observation.

The Galileo was sent to Jupiter to study the planet and its moons. It was delivered to space on Space Shuttle Atlantis on October 18, 1989. It sent an atmospheric probe into Jupiter's atmosphere to study the composition.

Quoted in English, as the archive publishes it, read on October 4, 2026.

• 951 Gaspra (asteroid)
• Solar System (planetary system)
• SOLAR WIND (plasma stream)

1 calibration targets declared by the archive are not listed: they are what an instrument looks at to adjust itself, not a place the mission aimed at.

Identifier in the archive, which is its citation: urn:nasa:pds:context:investigation:mission.galileo

NASA Planetary Data System, PDS Registry, investigation context products. Dates and targets read on September 29, 2026; how to cite the archive: https://pds.nasa.gov/datastandards/citing/

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