Jet Propulsion Laboratory Archives: Slice of History

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Galileo launched 35 years ago on 18 October 1989! As the first spacecraft to deploy an entry probe into an outer planet’s atmosphere, Galileo’s mission was to study Jupiter and its mysterious moons. The spacecraft also became notable for discoveries during its journey to the gas giant, such as evidence for the existence of a saltwater ocean beneath Europa’s icy surface, extensive volcanic processes on Io, and a magnetic field generated by Ganymede. Galileo was the first spacecraft to visit an asteroid (two, in fact!), and provided the only direct observations of a comet colliding with a planet.

This banner, flying against Building 264, which was the building that housed the Galileo team, recently came into the Archives’ custodianship, transferred from one of its designers, Bob Gounley. Gounley kindly included the tale of the banner’s origins, from the post-Challenger aerospace climate, to dozens of redesigns and retests, and the pressures to have a successful launch. This Galileo banner became a symbol of years of hard work and sacrifice to bring confidence back to the aerospace industry, and a moment of celebration for the Lab itself.

Over the course of its life, Galileo traveled 2.8 billion miles (4.6 billion kilometers), orbited Jupiter 34 times, and provided the only direct observations of a comet colliding with a planet. On 21 September 2003, Galileo plunged into Jupiter’s atmosphere to prevent an unwanted impact with Europa. CL#24-0645

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A sister spacecraft to Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to study Saturn up close and returned the first images of the polar regions of Jupiter. During its outbound journey, Pioneer 11 experienced several malfunctions, including the momentary failure of one of the RTG booms to deploy, a problem with an attitude control thruster, and the partial failure of the asteroidal dust detector, yet none of these issues jeopardized its mission.

Pioneer detected Saturn’s bow shock about 932,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) out from the planet, thus providing the first conclusive evidence of the existence of Saturn’s magnetic field. The spacecraft crossed the planet’s ring plane beyond the outer ring on 1 September, then passed by the planet for a close encounter at a range of about 13,000 miles, taking 440 images of the planetary system along the way, including the one above. Saturn's moon Rhea, seen as a speck of light near the planet on the right, is the sixth moon out from Saturn. It is 1000 miles (1600 kilometers) in diameter, about half the size of Earth's moon.

Heading out further into the solar system, Pioneer crossed Neptune’s orbit in 1990, and by 1995, 22 years after launch, two instruments were still operational. But by the end of that year, NASA Ames Research Center made last contact with the spacecraft, and according to Project Manager, Fred Wirth, “Pioneer 11 will travel as a ghost ship in our galaxy.” CL#23-6606

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An example of JPL’s historical and ongoing approach to public health, these photos document an on-Lab X-Ray clinic that was hosted in conjunction with the Pasadena Tuberculosis Association. This mobile X-Ray unit was stationed “immediately east of the JPL First Aid Room” all day on 27 July 1955, when these photos were taken. JPLers were invited to  “use this opportunity to obtain a chest x-ray on Laboratory time,” and encouraged to perform annual chest x-rays as a preventative health measure.

This became an annual health checkpoint for JPL during the 1950s, and staff would line up to take advantage. In this photo (left to right) Sylvia Granath, Ed Quick, Marie Mandroian, Dee Campbell, Ed Hane, and Russell Waldo climb the “stairway to health” and wait their turns. According to the August 1955 issue of Lab-Oratory, “[l]ast year, 437 JPL [staff] took advantage of this Laboratory service, showing an increased interest this year in preventative personal health.” CL#22-6272

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An example of JPL’s historical and ongoing approach to public health, these photos document an on-Lab X-Ray clinic that was hosted in conjunction with the Pasadena Tuberculosis Association. This mobile X-Ray unit was stationed “immediately east of the JPL First Aid Room” all day on 27 July 1955, when these photos were taken. JPLers were invited to  “use this opportunity to obtain a chest x-ray on Laboratory time,” and encouraged to perform annual chest x-rays as a preventative health measure.

This became an annual health checkpoint for JPL during the 1950s, and staff would line up to take advantage. In this photo (left to right) Sylvia Granath, Ed Quick, Marie Mandroian, Dee Campbell, Ed Hane, and Russell Waldo climb the “stairway to health” and wait their turns. According to the August 1955 issue of Lab-Oratory, “[l]ast year, 437 JPL [staff] took advantage of this Laboratory service, showing an increased interest this year in preventative personal health.” CL#22-6272