Attempt no landings there

[mmcirvin]

The Galileo Jupiter probe's final hours. Galileo underwent no decontamination before launch, and Jupiter's moon Europa is considered a long-shot possibility as a present or former home of extraterrestrial life. After almost 14 years in space and almost eight years of observing Jupiter and its moons, Galileo's maneuvering fuel is almost gone and its useful life nearly over in any event; so it is being dropped into the planet to avoid any possibility of its hitting Europa and contaminating it with terrestrial life.

Update: Here's a rundown of plans to get some last-minute science in as Galileo plunges toward Jupiter. It can't take any final pictures, for a variety of reasons; for one thing, the kludge in use for the past several years to get data back despite the probe's broken main antenna means that data has to be buffered on an internal tape recorder, and there just isn't time. Also, it will gradually be fried by Jupiter's intense radiation belts as the planet approaches.

Also: According to stupid people, Jupiter is going to explode. You didn't need me to tell you that, did you? ...OK, looking at the actual page, he only says it MIGHT explode. And Star Children MIGHT fly out of my butt.

Comments

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

I remember when Schumaker-Levy 9 was discovered; people thought it would ignite Jupiter. Someone on some BBS pointed to a Nostradamous thing that proved it.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I am a little sadder today.