The Galileo Mission to Jupiter and Its Moons

Scientific American has a juicy story about the Galileo mission, especially if you have any taste for the sciency stuff.

The mission confirmed that there are watery oceans inside the ice case of Europa, but it also revealed volcanic Io has not severed its umbilical cord of ions linking it to Mother Jupiter, Ganymede has a magnetic field unique among solar system satellites, and signs that Callisto too has an ocean.

I cannot forget the sense of wonder that was born in me as a kid thinking about the planets and the far reaches of outer space. I have spent years ignoring the faint calls of the constellations and milky way, pushing the allure off as an unspent charge of an untempered youthfulness that plagues my adulthood sense of purpose. But I have also ducked back under the tent of myth and mystery with a telescope or binoculars now and then, and stared in pretend understanding at mysteries which so dwarf human powers that they make it, finally, possible to exist among the known torments of our race.