Image: Galileo orbiter arrival at Jupiter (cropped)
Description: As it arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, NASA's Galileo orbiter received a stream of data transmissions -- represented by the blue dots in this artist's depiction -- from the atmospheric probe that was descending through Jupiter's clouds. The orbiter had released the probe five months earlier. The wok-shaped probe sent information to the orbiter for 57.6 minutes as it dropped about 200 kilometers (125 miles) through the atmosphere, before succumbing to atmospheric pressure about 23 times greater than the average at Earth's sea level. The probe returned data about sunlight, heat flux, pressure, temperature, winds, lightning and atmospheric composition. About one hour after the end of the probe's transmissions, the orbiter fired its main engine to brake into orbit around Jupiter. Note: This illustration correctly shows the partially deployed main antenna.
Title: Galileo orbiter arrival at Jupiter (cropped)
Credit: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=462
Author: NASA / JPL
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
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