The Galileo spacecraft's next encounter with Jupiter's moon Ganymede will occur on May 20, 2000.

A special Countdown to Ganymede webpage is now available on the Galileo Home Page:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/countdown/

Launched in October 1989, Galileo entered orbit around Jupiter in December 1995. The next encounter for Galileo is scheduled for Ganymede on May 20, 2000. Referred to as Ganymede 28, since this will occur on the 28th orbit since Galileo entered orbit around Jupiter, this encounter will be Galileo's fifth flyby of Ganymede. With a diameter of 5,262 km, Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system. In fact, Ganymede is larger than Mercury and Pluto, and three-quarters the size of Mars. Galileo will pass by Ganymede at a distance of 808 kilometers in the upcoming encounter.

Highlights of the Countdown to Ganymede home page:

• A virtual flyby of Ganymede with computer-generated approach images of Jupiter and Ganymede displayed at the top of the home page. These images are all updated every 5 minutes in sync with the actual flyby by the spacecraft.
• Latest Galileo status reports reporting on the Ganymede 28 encounter.
• Fact sheets and Europa, Callisto and Io.
• Voyager 1 & 2 images of Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io.
• Hubble Space Telescope images of the Galilean satellites.
• Pioneer 10 & 11 images of Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io.