QUESTION:
Why are there two dents on the rounded part of the Galileo Probe?

ANSWER from Charlie Sobeck on January 25, 1996:
Actually, there are no dents on the rounded part of the Probe.  I assume that 
when you ask this question, that you are looking at a picture of the Probe while
it is still in its heat shield (looking something like a top, with a rather 
pointy conical front end, and a rounded back end).  What you are probably seeing
is a circle right in the back (at the very top of the rounded part), and another
circle sort of on the side of the rounded part.
     
Both of these circles are special covers that cover up holes in the back of the 
Probe's heat shield.  The one at the very back is where the first parachute will
be shot out from.  So this cover will be popped off to allow the parachute to be
deployed.  The one by the side is an access hatch, sort of like a door into the 
Probe.  When the Probe was put together, we had to be able to get inside at the 
last moment to make some final connections, so we had this small access hatch in
the cover that we could reach through.  Then we put the cover in place to cover 
up the hole but, just like a door, you you can still see that there is something
there.