Posted: Wed, Dec 18, 2002, 9:09 AM ET (1409 GMT)
A tape recorder on NASA's Galileo spacecraft is working again, allowing scientists to retrieve data collected during the spacecraft's last flyby, project officials said Tuesday. Galileo went into a protective safe mode shortly after its close approach to Amalthea, a small inner moon of Jupiter, on November 5. While spacecraft operations were returned to normal by mid-November, the tape recorder used to save data collected during the flyby was still not operating. Engineers tracked down the problem to a light-emitting diode in the motor drive of the tape recorder. They were able to repair the diode remotely by running current through it, annealing damage caused by Jupiter's strong radiation environment. The tape recorder can now operate for an hour a time, long enough for normal playback operations. Playback of data collected during the flyby will continue until mid-January, when regular mission operations are scheduled to end. Galileo is on course to crash into Jupiter in September 2003, a deliberate maneuver to prevent the spacecraft from accidently crashing into and contaminating Europa.

Related Links:

•  JPL press release
•  AP article