J. R. Carpenter
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003, 11:57 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
Having traveled approximately 4.6 billion kilometers on a long but productive cruise, the Galileo Orbiter's 14-year odyssey came to an end when the spacecraft passed into Jupiter's shadow then disintegrated in the planet's dense atmosphere.
The hardy spacecraft had endured more than four times the cumulative dose of harmful jovian radiation it was designed to withstand. The onboard propellant was nearly depleted. Without propellant, controlling the spacecraft would no longer be possible. Galileo would not be able to point its antenna toward Earth or adjust its trajectory.
The spacecraft was purposely put on a collision course with Jupiter to eliminate any chance of an unwanted impact between the spacecraft and Jupiter's moon Europa, which Galileo discovered is likely to have a subsurface ocean. The possibility of life existing on Europa is so compelling and has raised so many unanswered questions that it is prompting plans for future spacecraft to return to the icy moon. Galileo & Carpenter - a brief history.