from the consulting-with-nasa-on-project-naming dept.
In late 2016, our favorite Saturnian orbiter Cassini will commence the final phase of the Solstice Mission. Using Titan to alter its orbit with Saturn, Cassini will drop between the inner-most ring and the cloudy top of Saturn for 22 loops before finally entering the atmosphere.
An excellent writeup of the Cassini missions was posted in a guest blog at The Planetary Society by John Spencer, written near the beginning of 2009, John was unsure NASA would have funding for this final phase. Worry not, John! Everything looks good from here.
NASA has announced that (Surprise!) we can help choose the name of the final phase of the mission. All suggestions must be received by April 25, 2014. The current name is "Proximal Orbits", which I am fairly fond of, but only because if its high Scrabble score. NASA has provided a list of names, but none of them invoke any sense of awesomeness, so I hope we are able to come up with something better.
(Score: 1) by DeKO on Friday April 18 2014, @05:19AM
My suggestion is It works on Kerbal Space Program, for obvious reasons. I've done this kind of maneuver many times (unintentionally) around Jool (how I hate Tylo!).
And no, I'm not posting the link to XKCD.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday April 18 2014, @05:42AM
You know what? Let's keep it simple: call them John and Mary, or Alice and Bob, awesome enough for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Woods on Friday April 18 2014, @01:07PM
Bob, who has been walking slowly while taking pictures around Alice for the better part of 9 years, will be going in for a closer look by using her best friend Mary to get a better perspective on things. Bob will slip within the personal bubble of Alice, where Bob will commence "Operation John". During "Operation John," Bob will walk more closely to Alice (While still taking really close-up pictures) a couple dozen times, then he will simply collide with her, and we will never hear from him again.
Oh my God you guys, Cassini has a crush on Saturn, but is too awkward to approach her. In 2016 his wingman, NASA, will give him a hint that if he approaches the best friend first, he can get closer to her. After he works up the courage, he bumps into her "accidentally" so they meet, and he asks her out. Of course she will say yes, and then his friends will never hear from him again, because he does not need them anymore.
Good luck Cassini!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 18 2014, @02:57PM
OCRAP (Orbital Cassini Retrograde Acceleration Process)