NASA Extends Galileo Mission

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - The extension will allow the aging probe to make five more swings past Jupiter's moons Amalthea, Callisto and Io before burning up in the giant planet's 37,000-mile thick atmosphere in August 2003.

``We're proud that this workhorse of a spacecraft has kept performing well enough that we can ask it to keep serving science a little longer,' said Jay Bergstralh, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's acting director of solar system exploration.

Although the extreme radiation environment around Jupiter continues to batter the $1.4 billion spacecraft, causing almost regular glitches, scientists hope it will give them a few final peeks at the volcanoes on Io and allow them to estimate the mass and density of Amalthea.

Since it began orbiting Jupiter in 1995, Galileo has released a probe that made the first measurements of the planet's atmosphere, provided strong evidence that its moon Europa has a liquid ocean and discovered the first asteroid orbiting another asteroid. Galileo also gave the only direct view of Comet Shoemaker-Levy as it slammed into Jupiter.

Galileo, launched in 1989, completed its primary exploration of the Jupiter system in 1997. NASA announced Thursday it would extend the spacecraft's mission for a third and final time.

``Galileo has already succeeded beyond expectations, and we have the opportunity to learn still more in coming months, but it is sad to see the end of the road up ahead,' said Eilene Theilig, Galileo project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA opted to destroy Galileo to keep it from slamming into Europa, contaminating it with terrestrial microbes stowed away on the probe. Scientists believe Europa's frozen surface caps a salty ocean that could harbor extraterrestrial life.

On May 25, Galileo will come within 76 miles of the surface of Callisto, the second largest of Jupiter's 28 known moons.

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