Editing Galileo project (section)

===Earth's bow shock and the solar wind===
[[File:Galileo Earth - PIA00114.jpg|thumb|right|''Galileo'' image of Earth, taken in December 1990|alt=refer to caption]]
The Earth encounters provided an opportunity for a series of experiments. A study of Earth's bow shock was conducted as ''Galileo'' passed by Earth's day side. The solar wind travels at {{convert|200|to|800|km/s|sp=us}} and is deflected by [[Earth's magnetic field]], creating a [[magnetic tail]] on Earth's dark side over a thousand times the radius of the planet. Observations were made by ''Galileo'' when it passed through the magnetic tail on Earth's dark side at a distance of {{convert|56000|km|sp=us}} from the planet. The magnetosphere was quite active at the time, and ''Galileo'' detected magnetic storms and [[whistler (radio)|whistlers]] caused by lightning strikes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Collaborative Study of Earth's Bow Shock |publisher=NASA |url=https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/bowshock/ |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116112941/https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/bowshock/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Meltzer|2007|pp=158–159}}

The NIMS was employed to look for [[mesospheric clouds]], which were thought to be caused by [[methane]] released by industrial processes. The water vapor in the clouds breaks down the [[ozone]] in the upper atmosphere. Normally the clouds are only seen in September or October, but ''Galileo'' was able to detect them in December, an indication of possible damage to Earth's ozone layer.{{sfn|Meltzer|2007|pp=158–159}}