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posted by on Wednesday April 26 2017, @10:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the this-is-why-we-can't-have-nice-things dept.

From the expensive toy breaking folks over at NASA:

"Cassini's up-close exploration of Titan is now behind us, but the rich volume of data the spacecraft has collected will fuel scientific study for decades to come," said Linda Spilker, the mission's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The flyby also put Cassini on course for its dramatic last act, known as the Grand Finale. As the spacecraft passed over Titan, the moon's gravity bent its path, reshaping the robotic probe's orbit slightly so that instead of passing just outside Saturn's main rings, Cassini will begin a series of 22 dives between the rings and the planet on April 26. The mission will conclude with a science-rich plunge into Saturn's atmosphere on Sept. 15.

Look, guys, if it's a driving ability problem I'll be happy to come over and show you now to not run into a gigantic planet...


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  • (Score: 1) by DeKO on Thursday April 27 2017, @06:59AM

    by DeKO (3672) on Thursday April 27 2017, @06:59AM (#500550)

    It's hard to have interesting chemical reactions in the middle of very light gas. Also, hydrogen and helium by themselves don't make many interesting molecules; other elements are present in much smaller quantities, and deeper down. There are tremendous, sudden changes in pressure and temperature, thanks to the strong winds, turning compounds from gas to liquid, to solid, or vice versa, very quickly. And the "deep down" region that is more rich in heavier elements, is so hot it breaks molecules down.

    Even if we assume life could exist without liquid water, gas giants don't even let chemistry to happen, for the most part.