Galileo probe suggests planetary science reappraisal

17 Jun 2002

Preliminary analysis of early data returned by NASA's historic Galileo probe mission into Jupiter's atmosphere has provided a series of startling discoveries for project scientists. Scientists analyzing data returned by NASA's Galileo atmospheric probe into Jupiter unveiled their early scientific discoveries during a news briefing on 22 January at NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA.

Information on the extent of water and clouds and on the chemical composition of the Jovian atmosphere is particularly revealing. Probe instruments found the entry region of Jupiter to be drier than anticipated, and they did not detect the three-tiered cloud structure that most researchers had postulated. The amount of helium measured was about one-half of what was expected. These initial findings are encouraging scientists to rethink their theories of Jupiter's formation and the nature of planetary evolution processes, according to probe project scientist Dr. Richard Young of NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA.