QUESTION:
Who built Galileo?

ANSWER from Todd Barber on January 2, 1995:
That is a very good question, and also not one that can be answered 
easily.  The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, was 
responsible for building the main spacecraft and integrating the various 
components into one flying robot to Jupiter.  However, various parts of the 
Galileo spacecraft were supplied by outside companies.  For example, the tape 
recorder was built at Odetics, a company in Anaheim, California (the home of 
Disneyland).  I work on the propulsion system of Galileo (the rockets, fuel 
tanks, fuel lines, etc.) and the entire propulsion system was provided to 
JPL by the German government free of charge to NASA!  In Germany, the 
company now called DASA (also responsible for making Mercedes Benz cars) 
provided the propulsion system to the German government.

It is JPL's responsibility to put the whole spacecraft together from 
these parts from around the Earth, test it, launch it, and maintain a 
successful mission once launched.  As you might imagine, the mood around 
JPL is very upbeat right now given the successes of Galileo to date, 
particularly our exciting arrival at Jupiter last month.

ADDENDUM from Daniel E. Carlock, Jr. on January 3, 1995:
The Galileo Probe was designed and built by Hughes
Space and Communications Co. (formerly Hughes Aircraft Co.) under
contract to NASA-Ames Research Center.  The major subcontractor was
General Electric's Re-Entry Systems Division (now part of
Lockheed-Martin).  For further information, please reference
http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov:80/dx/basket/storiesetc/GalBkgd.html#Contractors