NASA technicians are setting the agency?s Galileo spacecraft on its final path as they aim the eight-year mission onto a collision course with the planet Jupiter. Galileo, which has captured breathtaking images of Jupiter and its moons since 1995, is scheduled to break apart as it enters Jupiter?s atmosphere on Sunday. ?Galileo?s mission draws to a close September 21 with a plunge into Jupiter?s atmosphere,? the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement. ?The spacecraft was put on a collision course with Jupiter?s atmosphere to eliminate any chance of impact of the moon of Europa, which Galileo discovered is likely to have a subsurface ocean,? NASA said. Technicians expect Galileo ? named after 17th Century Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei who discovered Jupiter?s four key moons ? to beam back a few hours of final scientific readings before it disintegrates. The NASA statement explained that it is necessary to ditch the spacecraft, which was launched by the space shuttle Atlantis in 1989, because the craft is almost out of fuel.

?Without propellant, the spacecraft would not be able to point its antenna toward Earth or adjust its flight path, so controlling the spacecraft would no longer be possible,? NASA said. Galileo was the first spacecraft that directly measured with a probe the atmosphere of Jupiter ? the largest planet in the Earth?s solar system ? and was the first to carry out longterm observations from orbit. It found evidence of subsurface salt water on Jupiter?s moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, as well as detecting high levels of volcanic activity on Io. On July 12, 1995, the Galileo launched a 337-kilogram module that plunged into Jupiter?s atmosphere the following December allowing it to study the planet?s vertical temperature profile, and atmosphere pressure, altitude and cloud composition.

The craft was also the first ever to fly by an asteroid or discover an asteroid?s moon. Live coverage on NASA TV will be given to Galileo?s plunge into Jupiter?s atmosphere next Sunday from NASA?s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California as Galileo approaches its final moments.