Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

The Grand Finale: NASA plans to see Cassini off with a trail of fire as it crashes into Saturn

The Cassini spacecraft will get a burial place fit for such a long-trekked explorer: Saturn.

Alexandru Micu by Alexandru Micu
July 25, 2017
in News, Science, Space, Space flight

The Cassini spacecraft will get a burial place fit for such a long-trekked explorer: Saturn.

Cassini.
Artist’s redering of Cassini passing below Saturn’s innermost ring.
Image credits NASA/JPL-Caltech.

This small but venerable craft let humanity peer into Saturn and its moons on a level of detail our ancestors couldn’t even dream about. Throughout its explorations, Cassini beamed back breathtaking photographs, ignited hope for life on Jovian and Saturnian moons, and performed humanity’s most distant landing.

After a life of exploratory glory, Cassini is currently about halfway through the last leg of its journey. So NASA has decided to show the craft off with fire in the sky: on its last day before fuel runs out, 15 September, Cassini will dive into Saturn’s atmosphere to be vaporized in a blaze of glory. This is necessary to ensure that Cassin won’t infect any of the other nearby places (which could harbor indigenous life) with any clandestine Earth germs.

Still, the ship isn’t beat yet, and still, has important work to do as it gets closer to Saturn than any man-made object ever has. For instance, it has recently found that Saturn’s magnetic field doesn’t have any particular tilt, which is quite problematic since a) scientists were planning to use that to calculate how long a day is on Saturn and b) it kinda throws a wrench in our understanding of planets. It was thought that tilt is instrumental in generating a planet’s magnetic field, by allowing charges to form and flow through the liquid metal — but Saturn does without it.

“This planned conclusion for Cassini’s journey was far and away the preferred choice for the mission’s scientists,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “Cassini will make some of its most extraordinary observations at the end of its long life.”

“No spacecraft has ever gone through the unique region that we’ll attempt to boldly cross 22 times,” added Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “What we learn from Cassini’s daring final orbits will further our understanding of how giant planets, and planetary systems everywhere, form and evolve.”

“This is truly discovery in action to the very end.”

Here’s a video from NASA detailing Cassini’s final mission. It’s quite epic.

EDIT: This article has been edited. The title and one paragraph erroneously stated that Cassini was headed for Jupiter, instead of Saturn.

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Cassini spacecraft ends 20-year-old voyage in style, crashes into Saturn
  2. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft to finally reach Saturn’s rings
  3. NASA’s Cassini Shuttle Takes Spectacular Photos of Saturn’s Moon Dione
  4. Cassini heard ‘the big empty’ when it dived through Saturn and its rings
  5. Cassini is no more, but it left us one of the most memorable photos of Saturn
Tags: cassiniGrand FinaleLast missionnasa

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW