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Galileo (spacecraft)
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<p><i>Galileo</i> was an American robotic <a href="/facts/Space_probe/AeWRBITP">space probe</a> that studied the planet <a href="/facts/Jupiter/95m7XjMT">Jupiter</a> and <a href="/facts/Moons_of_Jupiter/Rq3GMt28">its moons</a>, as well as the asteroids <a href="/facts/951_Gaspra/ulKG0jyS">Gaspra</a> and <a href="/facts/243_Ida/gqgaPb12">Ida</a>. Named after the Italian astronomer <a href="/facts/Galileo_Galilei/98VT2z3v">Galileo Galilei</a>, it consisted of an orbiter and an entry probe. It was delivered into Earth orbit on October 18, 1989, by <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle/7BoyetEv">Space Shuttle</a> <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_Atlantis/3NQUThEB"><i>Atlantis</i></a>, during <a href="/facts/STS-34/FesqRIev">STS-34</a>. <i>Galileo</i> arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, after <a href="/facts/Gravity_assist/4sqIByot">gravitational assist</a> flybys of Venus and Earth, and became the first spacecraft to orbit an outer planet. </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory/zPXnxRBf">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> built the <i>Galileo</i> spacecraft and managed the <a href="/facts/Galileo_project/D2EbARd8"><i>Galileo</i> program</a> for <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>. West Germany's <a href="/facts/Messerschmitt-B%C3%B6lkow-Blohm/Gy1KlrMB">Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm</a> supplied the propulsion module. NASA's <a href="/facts/Ames_Research_Center/DQUsdLam">Ames Research Center</a> managed the atmospheric probe, which was built by <a href="/facts/Hughes_Aircraft_Company/NURPFI17">Hughes Aircraft Company</a>. At launch, the orbiter and probe together had a mass of 2,562 kg (5,648 lb) and stood 6.15 m (20.2 ft) tall. </p><p>Spacecraft are normally stabilized either by spinning around a fixed axis or by maintaining a fixed orientation with reference to the Sun and a star. <i>Galileo</i> did both. One section of the spacecraft rotated at 3 revolutions per minute, keeping <i>Galileo</i> stable and holding six instruments that gathered data from many different directions, including the fields and particles instruments. </p><p><i>Galileo</i> was <a href="/facts/Deliberate_crash_landings_on_extraterrestrial_bodies/4YcApNzC">intentionally destroyed</a> in Jupiter's atmosphere on September 21, 2003. The next orbiter to be sent to Jupiter was <a href="/facts/Juno_(spacecraft)/UzlYPApe"><i>Juno</i></a>, which arrived on July 5, 2016. </p>