alb@alice.UUCP (07/26/83)
The Air Force today successfully drop tested a prototype of the Galileo spacecraft that will fly into Jupiter's atmosphere in the late 1980's. The probe was carried aloft to almost 100,000 feet by a hot air balloon and then dropped, hitting the ground 9 minutes later. Pictures taken of the craft and data gathered by it will be analyzed by NASA over the next few weeks. The probe will be unleashed from an orbiter section that will remain in orbit around Jupiter and relay information from it. The entire craft will be launched from the space shuttle.