The Galileo spacecraft was launched from the Space Shuttle in 1989, and made it to Jupiter in December 1995 via several gravity assists from the Earth and Venus. It dropped a probe into Jupiter's atmosphere and went into Jovian orbit, and has been sending back exciting data for the last 3+ years. This is the first spacecraft ever put into orbit around Jupiter, so much more is being learned than from all of the previous 5 fly-by mission combined. Galileo completes an orbit of Jupiter every 2 months or so, and most orbits are arranged so that the spacecraft swings by one of the Galilean moons. High-resolution pictures have now been taken of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, as well as measurements of Jovian magnetic fields, plasma, gravity, and other scientific data; much of this data is presented throughout this web site. Galileo will continue to send back data through 1999, culminating its visit in two radiation-ladened flybys of Io.

For more information on the Galileo spacecraft, go here.