From: pfennige@obs.unige.ch   
      
   Ron Baalke wrote:   
   ...   
   > RELEASE: 03-297   
   >   
   > GALILEO TO TASTE JUPITER BEFORE TAKING FINAL PLUNGE   
   >   
   >      In the end, the Galileo spacecraft will get a taste of   
   > Jupiter before taking a final plunge into the planet's   
   > crushing atmosphere, ending the mission on Sunday, Sept. 21.   
   ...   
   > The spacecraft has been purposely put on a collision course   
   > with Jupiter to eliminate any chance of an unwanted impact   
   > between the spacecraft and Jupiter's moon Europa, which   
   > Galileo discovered is likely to have a subsurface ocean.   
      
   At some heights in the Jupiter atmosphere the physical   
   conditions might be suitable to sustain life.   
   Since temperature increases inward, at some level it must   
   traverse the 0-100 C interval in layers where water and organic   
   molecules must be present, and well shielded from cosmic rays.   
      
   Apparently NASA seems to be sure enough that either no life   
   can exist within Jupiter, or that Galileo will be completely   
   sterilized before entering such "comfortable" atmospheric layers.   
      
   	Dan   
      
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