Plunge into Jupiter's Atmosphere

On December 7, 1995, a NASA robot crammed with instruments will parachute into Jupiter's atmosphere and make the first direct measurements of the giant planet. The above image is an artist's concept of this event.

The robot, which NASA calls the Entry Probe, separated from its mother spacecraft, the Orbiter, on July 12, 1995. The Orbiter will continue to orbit Jupiter well above the cloud tops and take measurements for the next 22 months. The measurements from both the Entry Probe and the Orbiter will be sent back to scientists on earth. The goal is to understand better the cloud layers, winds, and magnetic fields of the sun's largest planet.

The Entry Probe and Orbiter are part of NASA's Galileo Mission to Jupiter. They were launched towards the planet as a single spacecraft from the Space Shuttle Atlantis in October 1989.

More Cool Stuff

You'll find everything you want to know about Project Galileo at:

http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov/galileo_probe/

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov:80/galileo/mess37/TOC.htm

Information about Jupiter:

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/jupiter.html

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome/jupiter.htm

Check out other observations in the Observation of the Week Archive.