First Galileo OPNAV Image of Callisto

NOTE: This JPEG image is made available in order to share with the public the excitement of new discoveries being made via the NASA/JPL Galileo spacecraft. Galileo scientists are in the process of calibrating and validating this data. The full digital image necessary for scientific analysis will be released within one year of receipt of this orbit's last data.

This image is available only on the WWW; it is not available in hardcopy or other forms.

This is the first optical navigation picture of Callisto taken on the approach to the first Callisto encounter. The image has been edited onboard the spacecraft to return only the part that is useful for navigation purposes (the lit part of Callisto and a region around the star used for orientation). The information from up to 25 optical navigation frames and Doppler tracking data will be used in designing a spacecraft maneuver to accurately target the spacecraft for the upcoming Callisto 3 encounter on November 4.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo.

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