Galileo Spacecraft and Discoveries

The Galileo spacecraft, launched in 1989, embarked on a 14-year mission to explore Jupiter and its moons. It achieved numerous firsts, including orbiting an outer planet and deploying a probe into Jupiter's atmosphere. The mission involved gravity assists from Venus and Earth, and encounters with asteroids Gaspra and Ida. Galileo provided unprecedented images and data on Jupiter's atmosphere and its moons, revealing details about Europa's subsurface ocean and Io's volcanic activity. The mission concluded in 2003 with a controlled descent into Jupiter to prevent contamination.

What was one of the firsts achieved by the Galileo spacecraft?

• First spacecraft to land on Mars

• First spacecraft to orbit an outer planet

• First spacecraft to explore the Sun

• First spacecraft to return to Earth

What technique did Galileo use to gain speed for its journey to Jupiter?

• Solar sail propulsion

• Nuclear propulsion

• Gravity assist maneuver

• Ion thruster propulsion

Which asteroid did Galileo first capture close-up images of?

• Vesta

• Eros

• Ceres

• Gaspra

What was unique about the asteroid Ida that Galileo discovered?

• It was made of ice

• It was the largest asteroid

• It had a ring system

• It had its own moon

What significant event did Galileo observe involving comet Shoemaker-Levy 9?

• The comet's collision with Mars

• The comet's collision with Jupiter

• The comet's collision with the Sun

• The comet's collision with Earth

What did the probe released by Galileo into Jupiter's atmosphere measure?

• Local weather conditions

• Surface temperature

• Magnetic field strength

• Radiation levels

What did Galileo discover beneath Europa's icy crust?

• A dense forest

• A volcanic landscape

• A subsurface liquid ocean

• A desert

What causes Io's intense volcanic activity?

• Its thick atmosphere

• Gravitational pull from Jupiter and other moons

• Its rapid rotation

• Its proximity to the Sun

Which moon is the largest in the solar system, as observed by Galileo?

• Titan

• Ganymede

• Callisto

• Europa

Why was the Galileo spacecraft deliberately destroyed at the end of its mission?

• To create a spectacle for observers

• To test its durability

• To avoid contaminating Jupiter's moons

• To prevent it from crashing into Earth