When passing Earth on your way to Jupiter, what should you look for? That question arose for the robotic Galileo spacecraft [ http://galileo.jpl.…] that soundlessly coasted past the Solar System's most photographed orb [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] almost two decades ago. The Galileo spacecraft, although originally launched [ http://www2.jpl.nas…] from Earth, coasted past its home world twice in an effort to gain speed [ http://en.wikipedia…] and shorten the duration of its trip to Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. During Galileo's first Earth flyby in late 1990, it made a majestically silent home movie of our big blue marble rotating by taking images [ http://galileo.jpl.…] almost every minute during a 25-hour period. The above picture [ http://planetary.or…] is one frame from this movie -- clicking on this frame will put it in motion [ http://en.wikipedia…] (in many browsers). Visible on Earth [ http://visibleearth…] are vast blue oceans [ http://webexhibits.…], swirling white clouds [ http://sci.odu.edu/…], large golden continents, and even one continent frozen [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] into a white sheet of water-ice. As Galileo passed, it saw a globe that not only rotated but began to recede into the distance. Galileo [ http://history.nasa…] went on to a historic mission [ http://galileo.jpl.…] uncovering many secrets and mysteries of Jupiter [ http://galileo.jpl.…] over the next 14 years, before performing a final spectacular dive [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] into the Jovian atmosphere [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
When passing Earth on your way to Jupiter, what should you look for? That question arose for the robotic Galileo spacecraft [ http://galileo.jpl.…] that soundlessly coasted past the Solar System's most photographed orb [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] almost two decades ago. The Galileo spacecraft, although originally launched [ http://www2.jpl.nas…] from Earth, coasted past its home world twice in an effort to gain speed [ http://en.wikipedia…] and shorten the duration of its trip to Jupiter [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. During Galileo's first Earth flyby in late 1990, it made a majestically silent home movie of our big blue marble rotating by taking images [ http://galileo.jpl.…] almost every minute during a 25-hour period. The above picture [ http://planetary.or…] is one frame from this movie -- clicking on this frame will put it in motion [ http://en.wikipedia…] (in many browsers). Visible on Earth [ http://visibleearth…] are vast blue oceans [ http://webexhibits.…], swirling white clouds [ http://sci.odu.edu/…], large golden continents, and even one continent frozen [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] into a white sheet of water-ice. As Galileo passed, it saw a globe that not only rotated but began to recede into the distance. Galileo [ http://history.nasa…] went on to a historic mission [ http://galileo.jpl.…] uncovering many secrets and mysteries of Jupiter [ http://galileo.jpl.…] over the next 14 years, before performing a final spectacular dive [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] into the Jovian atmosphere [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
