Scientists and engineers from NASA's Galileo Europa Mission will share their knowledge and latest findings from the spacecraft with the general public during a live Internet chat this Friday, March 6 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Cyberspace participants will have the opportunity to ask questions about any aspect of the Galileo mission, which has spent two years orbiting Jupiter and its moons. Web chat organizers anticipate a flurry of questions about the icy moon, Europa, which may have a liquid ocean, and therefore a greater potential for life than many other celestial bodies.
Anyone who would like to join in the web chat is invited to go to the following URL:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/chat
Earlier this week, new Europa pictures were unveiled, showing new evidence of slush on the moon's surface, intriguing views of ice cliffs as high as the face of Mt. Rushmore, and images of icy surface plates which have broken apart and moved around. The pictures were the closest ever taken of Europa, obtained by Galileo during its December 16, 1997 flyby.
The Galileo spacecraft has completed its primary mission and is now in a two-year extended journey, called the Galileo Europa Mission. The mission includes seven more Europa flybys, as well as encounters with two of Jupiter's other moons, Callisto and Io.
JPL manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.
General information and the latest Europa images can be found at the URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo
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