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(via CBSNews)

September 21, 2003:

The Galileo spacecraft committed a sort of celestial suicide — literally burning up as it streaked toward the surface of the planet Jupiter.

It’s the end of a mission that took man one giant step closer toward finding out if life exists beyond Earth, CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes explains.

For eight years, Galileo has been sending back breathtaking pictures of Jupiter and its moons. The spacecraft’s look at the icy surface of Europa — one of more than 60 moons — showed there may be water below the ice.

And where there’s water, there may be life. In fact, NASA decided to crash the Galileo spacecraft into Jupiter to make sure it didn’t collide with Europa and scatter Earth germs all over it.

Galileo was launched in 1989, and it circled Jupiter 34 times. Over the years, its discoveries were so extraordinary, they even inspired an unusual tribute called “Galileo, The Emotional Life of a Spacecraft” in New York. It comes complete with a rock singer playing Galileo.

Gone but not forgotten, Galileo spacecraft RIP (10/18/1989-9/21/2003)