JPL News -- Galileo End of Mission Status: "2003 News Releases

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Galileo End of Mission Status
September 21, 2003
The Galileo spacecraft's 14-year odyssey came to an end on Sunday, Sept. 21, when the spacecraft passed into Jupiter's shadow then disintegrated in the planet's dense atmosphere at 11:57 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The Deep Space Network tracking station in Goldstone, Calif., received the last signal at 12:43:14 PDT. The delay is due to the time it takes for the signal to travel to Earth.
Hundreds of former Galileo project members and their families were present at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for a celebration to bid the spacecraft goodbye.
'We learned mind-boggling things. This mission was worth its weight in gold,' said Dr. Claudia Alexander, Galileo project manager. "