Here's What To Read About Cassini As It Makes Its Final Plunge Into Saturn
Two decades ago, NASA launched the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft from Florida's Cape Canaveral. It spent seven years sailing through the cosmos, finally arriving at the sixth planet in our solar system, Saturn, in 2004. Over the next decade, Cassini orbited the ringed gas giant some 293 times.
Today, its mission finally coming to an end, Cassini plunged into Saturn's atmosphere. At 7:55 EDT, NASA lost contact with the orbiter.
For 13 years, Cassini quietly orbited Saturn and its moons, Titan and Enceladus, gathering data on a planet we knew little about. Scientists dedicated entire careers to the Cassini. Here's what to read on one of NASA's most scientifically important missions.
The Last Days Of Cassini
It's not inconceivable that this might be the first time you're hearing about Cassini. In two decades of space exploration we've been treated to Voyager, Spirit and Opportunity and Curiosity. It's very possible that, to you, Cassini was just outshone by the rest of humanity's blinding progress in uncovering the cosmos. Here, Mashable's Miriam Kramer explains why Cassini was so incredible:
Every month Cassini sent back truly alien images of moons never before seen in detail by human eyes, and it transformed the way scientists understood the planet and its moons in a big way. Scientific careers have been made thanks to the data Cassini sent back from the ringed world.
[Mashable]
Eulogy For Cassini
While the headlines about Cassini focus on its own self-inflicted destruction, the emotional core of Cassini's story lies in the researchers who dedicated their lives to this single mission, as Popular Science's Mary Beth Griggs so beautifully details:
Compared to the vast knowledge available in the solar system, we have impossibly short lives. Scientists who had young children when they began crafting Cassini are now grandparents, and children who watched Cassini blast off now have PhDs. But together, an intergenerational effort can expand our conception of the universe, and grant us the imagination to dream of what might yet be out there. We may have said farewell this morning, but this need not be our long goodbye.
The Cassini Spacecraft Burns Up In Saturn's Atmosphere
Of course, Cassini's fateful plunge isn't all for naught. And the 13 years' worth of data it's collected will continue to fuel research on Saturn for years to come, as Popular Mechanics's Jay Bennet points out:
Those final seconds of data represent the first ever direct sampling of Saturn's atmosphere, giving scientists unprecedented information about the makeup of the planet. It's an amazing opportunity to make a new discovery at the ringed world, something Cassini has been doing consistently for 13 years in orbit. From water erupting on the surface of Enceladus, to liquid methane flowing on Titan, to a great atmospheric storm that encircled the planet, and tantalizing clues about the age of Saturn's rings, Cassini has discovered more wonders than anyone could have guessed.
Like looking through deceased friend's photo roll on their phone, you can look at Cassini's final images, or some of NASA's highlights. Some of our favorites are below. If you'd like you could put this on, scroll down and have a nice little moment of catharsis.
