Why was the Galileo spacecraft sent into Jupiter’s atmosphere at the end of its mission?

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photo of Jupiter taken by Voyager 1 — Jupiter Photograph of Jupiter taken by Voyager 1 on February 1, 1979, at a range of 32.7 million km (20.3 million miles). Prominent are the planet's pastel-shaded cloud bands and Great Red Spot (lower centre).

The Galileo spacecraft was intentionally sent into Jupiter’s atmosphere in September 2003 to destroy itself. This maneuver was performed to prevent the spacecraft from potentially contaminating any of the Jovian moons, particularly those that might harbor conditions suitable for life, such as Europa.1