Each encounter is carefully planned to modify the orbit and set up the next satellite flyby. This was the last flyby to occur during the Galileo prime mission. The Galileo extended mission (called the Galileo Europa Mission) includes eight more close encounters with Europa, four more with Callisto, and up to two excursions into the Io plasma torus. The Galileo extended mission begins on 15 December 1997.
Galileo project images on NSSDCA Photo Gallery
Many of the images taken by Galileo of Jupiter and its satellites are available on NSSDCA's Photo Gallery. The pages are available via the Photo Gallery's Galileo image index or from the Photo Gallery's Jupiter page.
The following timeline is a list of different events which will occur beginning with the official start of the Europa 11 (the number actually refers to the Galileo orbit number) encounter and proceding until the day of the primary mission. The times are given in Universal Time (UTC) of the event at the spacecraft.
Date/Time Instrument Event
________ __________ _____
02 Nov 16:00 Start of Europa 11 encounter
03 Nov 06:06 UVS Start Callisto neutral torus
19:49 UVS End Callisto neutral torus
04 Nov 12:23 UVS Start Io torus observations
23:35 UVS End Io torus observations
05 Nov 06:52 UVS Europa eclipse observations
07:17 Callisto closest approach (673,000 km)
09:39 EUV/UVS Auroral map
16:13 NIMS First brown barge observation
16:22 UVS Auroral haze observation
18:36 SSI Auroral time-lapse
06 Nov 00:18 NIMS Europa global
10:31 RS Start Europa gravity field
10:45 PPR Jupiter global
17:50 PPR Europa hot spots
18:48 NIMS Europa Pwyll mosaic
19:03 SSI Europa color samples
20:09 F&P Start wake/equator observations
20:32 Europa closest approach (3,607 km)
22:51 F&P End wake/equator observations
23:36 SSI Thebe
07 Nov 00:42 Jupiter closest approach (641,000 km)
01:00 SSI Amalthea
06:31 RS End Europa gravity field
10:20 Ganymede closest approach (1,540,000 km)
10:49 Science turn (high-phase Jupiter/Io)
14:04 SSI Culann plume
21:11 NIMS Io monitoring
23:45 Io closest approach (793,000 km)
08 Nov 00:09 SSI Lightning search
03:00 PPR Io full disk
05:37 UVS Auroral map
07:25 SSI Loki plume
14:56 SSI Jupiter rings
22:33 Turn to return to Earth point
09 Nov 06:10 NIMS Last brown barge observation
16:00 End of Europa 11 encounter/Start cruise
10 Nov 00:40 Orbital Trim Maneuver (OTM) 36
16 Nov 03:01 RS Start Earth occultation observation
05:00 Start Earth occultation by Jupiter
20:13 End Earth occultation by Jupiter
22:13 RS End Earth occultation observation
21 Nov 15:38 Attitude update burn
26 Nov 19:10 Orbital Trim Maneuver (OTM) 37
13 Dec 23:00 Orbital Trim Maneuver (OTM) 38
15 Dec 08:00 End cruise/Start Galileo Europa Mission
There are other Jupiter-related resources available at NSSDCA.
Further information on the Europa flyby can be found at:
Press Conferences
Times are Eastern Standard Time. Conferences can be seen on NASA Select. Conferences and
other media events will be added as they become scheduled.
Date/Time Event ________ _____ 12/16/97 1:00 p.m. Galileo briefing on results from primary mission
Overview of interesting events
Date/Time Event ________ _____ 12/07/95 Probe entry (timeline available) 03/14/96 Perijove raise maneuver 03/22/96 Final attempt to deploy high-gain antenna (failed) 06/27/96 02:29 a.m. Ganymede closest approach #1 (EDT) (timeline available) 09/06/96 03:00 p.m. Ganymede closest approach #2 (EDT) (timeline available) 11/04/96 08:30 a.m. Callisto closest approach #1 (EST) (timeline available) 12/19/96 01:53 a.m. Europa closest approach #1 (EST) (timeline available) 02/20/97 12:03 p.m. Europa closest approach #2 (EST) (timeline available) 04/05/97 02:10 a.m. Ganymede closest approach #3 (EST) (timeline available) 05/07/97 11:57 a.m. Ganymede closest approach #4 (EDT) (timeline available) 06/25/97 09:47 a.m. Callisto closest approach #2 (EDT) (timeline available) 09/16/97 08:19 p.m. Callisto closest approach #3 (EDT) (timeline available) 11/26/97 03:32 p.m. Europa closest approach #3 (EST) (timeline available)
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