In an interesting coincidence, today marks the 1 year anniversary of Cassini’s Grand Finale – its final plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn, the planet it spent its life studying. It was one hell of an event – after being in space for nearly 20 years (originally launched in 1997 on a Titan IV) and […]
On October 15th, 1997, a Titan IV/B lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft into space for its eventual amazing mission to study the planet Saturn. This was one of the first launches of the Titan IV/B and the first flight of that particular Titan variation […]
One last Cassini related post today, we have a short NASA film simply titled “Goodbye Cassini.” It’s just that, too – a short, sweet goodbye to one of the most successful missions in space history. I know, I’ve posted quite a bit already in regards to Cassini today, so this will be the last post […]
At 7:55 AM Eastern Time NASA’s Deep Space Network captured the last signals from the Cassini spacecraft. The vehicle, 83 minutes earlier, had dived into the atmosphere of Saturn. As planned, Cassini did its absolute best to keep its antenna pointed towards Earth, sending all the data it could before aerodynamic stresses finally pushed it […]
We’re reaching the last moments of the Cassini mission. September 14th, 2017 marks the last full day of Cassini operations. Today, it will take it’s final photos, send the last bit of recorded data, prepare for “real time” data transmission, and then, about 29 hours from when I write this article, it will finally make […]
The Cassini Spacecraft has just 6 days left of it’s mission around Saturn. Really 5 considering it will be early morning on the 15th when it begins its final dive into the planet. This video highlights just a fraction of the amazing images Cassini has taken over the past 13 years around Saturn, as well […]
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 […]
This video from JPL and NASA shows what the “sound” of the space below the rings of Saturn is like – more correctly, what the particle and magnetic sensors on the craft detect, indicating the vastly different environments outside and inside the ring zones around the gas giant. Again, this is what happens when you […]
I’ve been delayed on sharing this, but hey, better late than never. This video clip from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, as you may have seen it listed before) and shows the path Cassini took over Saturn during the first dive of the Grand Final. The clip speaks for itself, really, showing the cloud tops […]
Last night Cassini made it’s first plunge into the space between Saturn and its rings. Following several hours out of contact with Earth (due to the planet blocking signals), the probe emerged unscathed and provided us closer than ever views of the upper atmosphere of the ringed gas giant! The gap between Saturn and its […]
On September 15th, 2017, NASA’s Cassini mission will come to an end after 13 years studying Saturn and just shy of 20 years in space. Known as the “Grand Finale,” the end of life for the Cassini probe will be quite the dramatic event. On April 26th, 2017, Cassini will make a final orbital change […]