PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Radio transmissions indicate Galileo's Jupiter atmospheric probe mission has succeeded, with confirmation that the probe signal has been received by the orbiter as the probe began parachuting into Jupiter's clouds.
"At 3:10 p.m. PST, we received data from the Galileo orbiter showing the radio link between the probe and Galileo had been achieved as planned," said Galileo Project Manager Bill O'Neil. The data we received is a status indicator to show us that the probe was working and that it was transmitting data to the mothership."
A sampling of data from the probe mission will start being played back to Earth Sunday.
Galileo engineers now await the start the of the spacecraft's critical 49-minute rocket firing that will start at 5:19 p.m. PST and is scheduled to end at 6:08 p.m. PST The engine burn will brake Galileo and allow it to enter orbit around Jupiter for its two-year mission.