Galileo completing VEEGA - A mid-term report

In December Galileo will complete its Venus-Earth-Earth-Gravity Assist (VEEGA) mission phase and will be placed on a direct trajectory to Jupiter arriving in December 1995. Galileo will be the first aircraft to orbit Jupiter and send a probe into its atmosphere and will perform an intensive and comprehensive investigation of the planet. Observations made during the October 1991 encounter with the asteroid Gaspra are discussed. The observation plan to be used for earth and moon observations during the December 1992 gravity assist encounter is described. The Galileo High-Gain Antenna (HGA) deployment anomaly status is reported and future corrective actions are outlined. The low-gain antenna contingency mission to be implemented if the HGA cannot be deployed is described and overall performance and status of the space craft are discussed. The selected tour for the Galileo Jupiter satellite-gravity-assist orbital tour is described and the decision rationale for performing the August 1993 asteroid Ida flyby option is presented.