On Saturday, September 20, the Challenger Space Center is partnering with ASU to say “Goodbye Galileo!” to the spacecraft that was launched by astronaut Shannon Lucid from the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Atlantis nearly 14 years ago. Since the start of her magnificent mission on October 18, 1989, Galileo’s goal has been to study Jupiter and her many moons (28 at last count), and the spunky spacecraft has done so brilliantly.
On Saturday, September 20, from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, the Challenger Center is featuring speakers from ASU to discuss various aspects of the Galileo mission. In addition to presentations throughout the day, an auction and raffle will also take place, with proceeds to benefit the Challenger Center. A sampling of raffle and auction items includes Galileo Mission pins; an original Galileo Probe lithograph; a Galileo Swatch-Patches plaque; a Galileo Earth-Moon Sweatshirt; a Galileo Mission 11 pin set; and much more. In addition, there will be approximately 200 Galileo Io posters that all speakers will autograph for $5 per poster.
The schedule of activities and speakers is on the next page of this press release. Admission to all the presentations is free with general admission to the Center, which is $6 for adults; $4 for children and seniors; free for under age six. Challenger members are also free.
Galileo, named in honor of the first modern astronomer, Galileo Galilei, will slip behind Jupiter on Sunday the 21st and plunge into its stormy atmosphere while traveling at nearly 108,000 mph. As it hurtles downward, heat and friction will tear apart the nearly 3,000-pound Galileo, vaporizing the spacecraft, thus ensuring that Galileo won’t crash into one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, and spill its cargo of microbes onto ice that caps that moon’s enormous oceans.
Saturday’s schedule is as follows:
* 10:15 am Welcome and Introductions
* 10:30 am NASA’s Galileo Mission to Jupiter: Historical Background Development
(1977-1989)
Speaker: Dr. David A. Williams, ASU
This 30-minute talk will review the historical development of the Galileo Mission in terms of the state of planetary
exploration in the Apollo and post-Apollo eras, the approval of Galileo by Congress in 1979, and the long and complex development history of Galileo during the 1980s.
* 11:15 am Galileo to Jupiter: Cruise through the Solar System (1989-1995)
Speaker: Dr. David A. Williams, ASU
This 30-minute talk will review the discoveries made by the Galileo spacecraft as it cruised through the Solar System on its way to Jupiter. These discoveries include new insights on cloud patterns on Venus, the first close-up views of the Moon since
Apollo, the first ever asteroid fly-bys (and discovery of an asteroidal moon), and the first ever planetary impact event witnessed by humans.
* 12:00 noon Unveiling of the Exploration of the Solar System display from ASU. Location: Second Floor Technology Deck, Challenger Space Center.
* 12:15 pm Ganymede and Callisto: Icy Giant Moons (1996-2001)
Speaker: Professor James Klemaszewski, Grand Canyon University & ASU
This 30 minute talk will review the discoveries made by the Galileo spacecraft of Jupiter’s giant outer icy moons, Ganymede and Callisto.
* 1:00 pm Galileo at Io: World of Fire (1996-2002)
Speaker: Dr. David A. Williams, ASU
This 30 minute talk will review the discoveries made by Galileo spacecraft of Jupiter’s volcanically-hyperactive inner moon, Io.
* 2:15 pm Galileo at Jupiter: New Views of a Gas Giant (1996-2000)
Speaker: Professor Steven Kadel, Glendale Community College and ASU
This 20 minute talk will review the discoveries made by the Galileo spacecraft of the giant planet Jupiter, its small rooms, rings, and powerful magnetic field.
* 2:45 pm Galileo at Europa: Discovery of an Ocean (1996-2002)
Speaker: Dr. Patricio Figueredo, ASU
This 30 minute talk will review the most important discovery of the Galileo mission, the evidence for an ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa, and report on future Jovian missions.
* 3:15 pm Auction, Raffle, and Autograph Session
Galileo Mission Memorabilia
We will hold an auction and raffle for several items from NASA’s Galileo Mission and Galileo scientists will autograph Io posters for all attendees for a nominal fee. Auction, raffle, and autograph proceeds will benefit the Challenger Space Center.
