Re: NEWS: Interplanetary environmentalism

From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Mon Jul 31 2000 - 10:48:37 MDT


Amara Graps wrote:
>
> >The best way to stop this
> >happening, the agency believes, is to crash Galileo
> >deliberately into Jupiter.
>
> The article is slanted strange.
>
> Galileo will be out of fuel at the end of 2003. Either send
> it out, or send it in. 12 years of life for that old
> and crippled spacecraft isn't bad.
>
> There is alot of good data that can be taken at
> Io (5R_j) and further in (Gossamer Ring 2R_j), so no reason
> why not to send it in.
>
> NASA will make it's final decision on how to end Galileo's
> mission (life) in a few months, so it's not firm yet.

I find it hard to beleive that after the radiation bombardment that it has gone
under, for years from the sun, as well as from passing through Jupiters violent
radiation storms all the time its been there, that any microbes or viruses on
the spacecraft could actually be viable in any way.



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