Galileo infographic: 'Thrusters on top'

Thrusters on top: Despite operating in space, Galileo has a definite ‘up and down’ orientation relative to Earth. At the top of the satellite along each corner are a pair of thrusters, fuelled by hydrazine from a central tank. These thrusters are used to gradually move the satellite into its final set orbit following its deployment from the launcher upper stage and to perform orbital manoeuvres. Also used to adjust satellite pointing direction are reaction wheels –
set spinning to make the satellite rotate in the opposing direction – and ‘magnetotorquers’ whose internal electromagnets adjusted to cause a positive or negative reaction against Earth’s magnetic field.

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