This Week on Galileo August 20 – 26, 2001
Another very quiet week of cruise activities is in store for the Galileo
spacecraft. On Thursday, a test of the on-board gyroscopes is conducted.
The electronic circuits governing these gyros have shown sensitivity to the
intense radiation experienced as we fly close to Jupiter. Periodically
running these tests allows us to determine if the software scale factors
that are applied to the gyro measurements need to be updated to correctly
interpret the information. The last such test was performed on August 7,
just after the flyby, and this test will show to what extent the circuits
have recovered from the radiation effects in the intervening two weeks.
Continued playback of the data stored on the tape recorder during the Io
flyby occupies the Galileo science community this week. Data from the Solid
State Imaging camera, the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, and the
instruments that measure the electromagnetic fields and particles of the
Jupiter environment are on tap. This week’s playback should include the
measurements taken just as Galileo reached its closest approach to Io, at a
distance of 200 kilometers (124 miles), including views of the Isum,
Tvashtar, and Prometheus volcanoes.
For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter,
please visit the Galileo home page at one of the following URL’s:
