The Galileo Spacecraft

The Galileo spacecraft, when launched, consisted of an orbiter and a probe. The two parts of the spacecraft made the journey to Jupiter together until July of 1995, when the probe was released on a trajectory that guided it into Jupiter's atmosphere on December 7 of the same year. The orbiter continued on to enter orbit around Jupiter, on a series of encounters with the planet's major satellies.

More information about the Galileo spacecraft is available from the following resources:

If you're familiar with this site and are looking for a specific page about the spacecraft, try our quick links page. Or, if you're just beginning to learn about Project Galileo, the Galileo Fact Sheet provides a brief, non-technical look at the mission.
There is a section of The Galileo Tour Guide that covers the orbiter, and another that covers the probe. (The Tour Guide is in pdf format, which you can view with Acrobat Reader.) There is also a separate probe home page at NASA-Ames Research Center.
Detailed information on the Galileo's science instruments is provided here.
Pictures of the spacecraft show it being tested and prepared for launch, while Deep Space Network pictures show Galileo's phone to home.
How much does the spacecraft weigh? Why is it wrapped in black and gold stuff?
Answers to questions about general spacecraft anatomy are in the Galileo FAQ, which also has also special sections on Galileo's probe, computers, antennas, tape recorder, and power.
How does the spacecraft know where to go? Navigation and trajectory information is included in The Tour Guide (in pdf format), and frequently-asked navigation questions are also answered in the FAQ. Trajectory figures and data, including numerical trajectory data for much of the mission, are also available.
Where's Galileo Right Now? This page is updated every minute!
Spacecraft Status: Copies of current and past status reports are archived on this site.
Perhaps you're curious about Galileo's stuck antenna. Much has been written about it:
First, the Antenna FAQ section explains what the high-gain antenna is and why it didn't open. Some of the ideas for trying to open it are listed in Everthing That You've Wanted to Know About Trying to Open the HGA, and Haven't Been Afraid to Ask. And a fact sheet explaining Galileo's New Telecommunications Strategy was written in July, 1995.

For additional information, see "Galileo's antenna: the anomaly at 37 million miles," an article by Jim Wilson that appeared in JPL's newspaper on July 3, 1992, or Unfurling the HGA's Enigma in the August, 1991 Galileo Messenger.
Other people write about Galileo, too. Our bibliography gives references to a variety of articles.
Finally, many people wonder what will happen to Galileo at the end of its planned mission. Here are some possibilities.

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