On this day in space! Nov. 5, 2002: NASA's Galileo spacecraft flies by Jupiter moon Amalthea only to find it's a 'pile of icy rubble less dense than water'

space.com Nov 5, 2026

On this day in space! Nov. 5, 2002: NASA’s Galileo spacecraft flies by Jupiter moon Amalthea only to find it’s a ‘pile of icy rubble less dense than water’

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Nov 5, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

On November 5, 2002, NASA’s aging Galileo spacecraft performed a close flyby of Jupiter’s small moon Amalthea, only 99 miles from the surface. The probe entered safe mode 30 minutes later due to intense Jovian radiation, but engineers restored operations quickly. Amalthea, the reddest object in the solar system, is a low‑density, icy rubble pile that generates more heat than it receives from the Sun. Less than a year later, Galileo was deliberately plunged into Jupiter’s atmosphere, ending its mission.

💡 Why It Matters

· The flyby confirmed Amalthea’s porous, ice‑rich composition, offering clues about the formation of irregular Jovian moons.
· It also demonstrated Galileo’s resilience in extreme radiation, extending valuable data collection before its final descent.

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