Posted: Tue, Oct 16, 2001, 7:59 PM ET (2359 GMT)
NASA's Galileo spacecraft completed a flyby of the volcanic inner Jovian moon of Io late Monday in good shape, project officials reported Tuesday. Galileo passed 181 kilometers above Io's south pole at 9:23 pm EDT October 15 (0123 GMT October 16) during the second of three close flybys planned of the innermost Galilean satellite. Telemetry returned by Galileo confirmed that the spacecraft survived the strong radiation in the vicinity of Io in working condition. The spacecraft's camera, which has malfunctioned during past flybys because of heavy radiation exposure, appears to have made it through this flyby successfully, although project engineers said they will not be certain the camera worked until the spacecraft begins transmitting images later this month. This may be the last opportunity for Galileo to collect images: although Galileo will perform another close flyby of Io in January, NASA announced earlier this year that the camera would not be used on that flyby or for other tasks though the end of the mission in 2003.

Related Links:

•  Galileo status report from NASA/JPL
•  AP article