Galileo at 30: How a mission transformed our understanding of Jupiter

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

The Planetary Society

Technology, Science

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thirty years after NASA’s Galileo spacecraft became the first to orbit Jupiter, scientists and engineers gathered to reflect on the mission that transformed how we see the giant planet and its moons.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We're celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Galileo mission's orbital insertion around Jupiter.
0:08.8	This week on Planetary Radio.
0:15.9	I'm Sarah al-Ahmed of the Planetary Society, with more of the human adventure across our solar system
0:21.9	and beyond. On December 7, 1995, a spacecraft named Galileo fired its engines and slipped into
0:29.4	orbit around Jupiter, becoming the first mission to do so. Over the next eight years, Galileo
0:35.6	transformed our understanding of the largest planet in our solar system and its moons.
0:40.5	It revealed oceans hidden beneath ice, worlds shaped by extreme volcanism, and a planetary system far more dynamic and interconnected than anyone had imagined.
0:52.0	Thirty years later, scientists, engineers, historians, and advocates gathered at the
0:57.2	California Institute of Technology to mark the moment, the 30th anniversary of Galileo's orbital
1:03.9	insertion. The event known as the Galileo at 30s symposium brought together generations of people
1:10.8	whose lives and careers were shaped by the mission.
1:14.1	Many of them hadn't seen each other in years. Some were babies when Galileo flew.
1:19.5	Others had shepherded the mission through launch delays, engineering crises, and political battles that nearly ended it before it ever began.
1:28.2	It felt less like a conference and more like a family reunion.
1:32.4	In this episode of Planetary Radio, we're taking you inside that gathering.
1:37.1	You'll hear how Galileo survived seemingly impossible challenges, how it seemed
1:41.6	adapted when things went wrong, and how the mission's discoveries
1:45.1	reshaped planetary science, from Jupiter's atmosphere and its magnetic field to ocean worlds like
1:51.7	Europa. You'll hear from some of the people who shaped Galileo's story. Historian Eric Conway,
1:57.8	who helps place the mission in the broader context. Bill O'Neill, Galileo's project manager, who guided the spacecraft through years of challenges.
2:06.6	And Margaret Kivelson, whose work on Galileo's magnetometer led to one of the mission's most profound discoveries,
2:13.6	a potential liquid water ocean beneath the icy crust of Europa.
	...

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