As of the writing of this article, the Cassini mission around Saturn has 9 days 14 hours or so remaining. On September 15th, 2017, the probe will descend into the atmosphere of Saturn, burning up as it plummets into the gaseous mass of the plant it has spent over a decade studying.
(Sure, it’s a little over a week from now, but we can safely say either way this is the end, and by the time this spreads through social media, well, it will be about a week in, so.. yeah..)
This is the end of the “Grand Finale” as it has been named – a series of 23 dives into the space between the planet and it’s magnificent ring system. Currently having finished pas 21 of the 23 dives, the probe has reached the point where it is actually passing through the upper atmosphere of the planet, slowing itself ever so slight each pass to finally, on the last go around, fall out of orbit. At the same time, though, equipment on-board is studying and sampling the atmosphere of the planet to give us new insights into its makeup and behaviors.
This end comes just shy of 20 years from the launch of the probe, incidentally on a Titan IV booster, a relative of the same vehicle that launched the Voyager probes back int he 70’s. There is an irony that shouldn’t be ignored that Cassini also carried a small lander called Huygens which successfully landed on Saturn’s moon Titan back in 2004.
Even to the end, Cassini will be doing what it has done best – gather data and send it to Earth. I hate to see it go, but the nearly two decade long mission has been incredible – certainly among the absolute best “bang for buck” missions launched.
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/grand-finale-orbit-guide/
Right now, Cassini is beginning the final full orbit before the death dive – one lass pass through the upper atmosphere of the planet before the end. I plan to stay up early that morning, on September 15th, to see what data comes in during that final descent. It should be amazing.