Today in History

September 21, 2003
End Mission
NASA directs space probe Galileo into Jupiter's crushing atmosphere, obliterating the spacecraft. The method of its demise prevents any chance that Galileo might contaminate Jupiter's moon Europa, thought possibly to hold a subsurface ocean. The loss of Galileo marks the end of a highly productive 14-year mission that led to many discoveries about Jupiter, its atmosphere, the composition of its moon—and even observations about asteroids before the probe reached the planet. Galileo's project manager, Dr. Claudia Alexander says, "This mission was worth its weight in gold."



Today's Feature History Article

The Planet Hunters

Nevermind the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet. Astronomers have found about 200 planets orbiting other stars, and they say it's only a matter of time before they discover another Earth.




 



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