Galileo mission ends as probe crashes into Jupiter 2003

Galileo spacecraft, launched October 18, 1989, ended its mission when NASA sent it plunging into Jupiter's atmosphere, September 21, 2003.  It flew by Venus in February 1990 and flew by Earth in December 1990 and approached asteroid 951 Gaspra in October 1991.  It made a second flyby of Earth in December 1992 before making close observations of another asteroid Ida.  It discovered Ida's moon Dactyl, the first time a moon orbiting an asteroid had ever been seen.  

Galileo observed fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crash into Jupiter.  Besides examining Jupiter, it made several flybys of moons Europa and Io.  

NASA turned off Galileo's cameras in January 2002, since they had been permanently damaged by radiation.  They were able to recover scientific data from a damaged tape recorder and received measurements of the moon Amalthea, before taking its final plunge.

The mission was successful beyond imagination.

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts Jupiter 1994

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, discovered in March 1993, by amateur astronomers, first impacted Jupiter July 16, 1994.  It was orbiting the giant planet and had been torn apart probably in 1992, when Jupiter's gravity tore it apart.

Twenty-one fragments struck the planet over the next 6 days. The largest came on July 18.