Three Decades After Historic Jupiter Orbit, Galileo Mission Scientists to Reunite at Caltech

Scientists who helped revolutionize humanity’s understanding of Jupiter and its mysterious moons will gather in Pasadena next week to celebrate three decades since NASA’s Galileo spacecraft entered orbit around the solar system’s largest planet.

The public panel discussion, scheduled for Monday, Dec. 8, at Caltech, comes 30 years and one day after Galileo’s historic orbit insertion on Dec. 7, 1995.

The event will bring together researchers whose work with Galileo data transformed planetary science. They will discuss discoveries that continue shaping current and future missions to the Jovian system.

Bill O’Neil, who managed the Galileo project, will join the panel. Other participants include Bob Pappalardo, project scientist for the Europa Clipper mission, and Elizabeth Turtle, who leads the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan.

Rosaly Lopes from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will also participate. Erik Conway, a historian of science and technology from Purdue University, will moderate the 5 p.m. discussion.

Galileo’s mission yielded critical insights into Jupiter’s atmosphere, magnetic field and moons. The spacecraft’s observations of Europa suggested a subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust. That discovery has driven renewed interest in exploring the moon as a potential harbor for life.

The Chen 100 Lecture Hall event will include a reception starting at 4:30 p.m. A question-and-answer session with audience members will follow the panel discussion.

JPL and the Caltech Keck Institute for Space Studies are sponsoring the free event. Reservations are required. Parking becomes free after 5 p.m. in unmarked commuter stalls.

For more information, call Antonio Soriano at (626) 395-3966 or email asoriano@caltech.edu.