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...
Related Stories
NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Ends Its Historic Exploration of Saturn
Telemetry received during the plunge indicates that, as expected, Cassini entered Saturn's atmosphere with its thrusters firing to maintain stability, as it sent back a unique final set of science observations. Loss of contact with the Cassini spacecraft occurred at 7:55 a.m. EDT (4:55 a.m. PDT), with the signal received by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna complex in Canberra, Australia.
[...] As planned, data from eight of Cassini's science instruments was beamed back to Earth. Mission scientists will examine the spacecraft's final observations in the coming weeks for new insights about Saturn, including hints about the planet's formation and evolution, and processes occurring in its atmosphere.
[...] Cassini launched in 1997 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and arrived at Saturn in 2004. NASA extended its mission twice – first for two years, and then for seven more. The second mission extension provided dozens of flybys of the planet's icy moons, using the spacecraft's remaining rocket propellant along the way. Cassini finished its tour of the Saturn system with its Grand Finale, capped by Friday's intentional plunge into the planet to ensure Saturn's moons – particularly Enceladus, with its subsurface ocean and signs of hydrothermal activity – remain pristine for future exploration.
Farewell, Cassini: a 20 year mission to Saturn comes to a life-protecting end
During the Jovian flyby, Cassini performed scientific observations of the planet, showing that Jupiter's cloud belts were areas of "net-rising atmospheric motion."
This observation contradicted previous hypotheses about Jupiter's dark and light belts and served to highlight differences in planetary weather systems.
During the flyby, Cassini was also able to study Jupiter's thin ring system, revealing that Jupiter's rings were composed of irregularly shaped particles that likely originated as ejecta from micrometeorite impacts with the moons Metis and Adrastea.
Cassini: The legend and legacy of one of NASA's most prolific missions
Previously:
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday April 26 2017, @10:54PM
Milestones: Cassini's First Grand Finale Dive: Milestones [nasa.gov]
Previously: Cassini's Final Flyby of Atlas [soylentnews.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 26 2017, @11:15PM (4 children)
I'd prefer if they found a way to crash gently into one of the barren moons, but given the shape of those orbits, that's quite impossible...
> 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...
I can't imagine the amount of jokes that would follow them for the rest of their life, if they somehow missed the giant planet...
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday April 26 2017, @11:21PM (3 children)
They have to avoid pretty much all of these moons. Enceladus and Titan are thought to be capable of hosting life [nasa.gov]:
And that's underselling it. Dione and Rhea also have possible subsurface oceans [wikipedia.org], and I would not be surprised if Mimas, Tethys, and Iapetus get added to that list in the future. All of Saturn's seven largest moons could be harboring microbial life forms in subsurface liquid oceans.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 27 2017, @12:14AM (2 children)
Why is it that saturn isn't thought capable of sustaining life?
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Thursday April 27 2017, @12:35AM
Page encoding is messed up, but should give you an idea:
https://market.cloud.edu.tw/content/senior/earth/tp_ml/solarsystem/net/9/The%20Habitability%20of%20Saturn.htm [cloud.edu.tw]
There has been talk of life in the atmospheres of gas giants but it doesn't seem very feasible compared to the liquid water oceans found inside icy objects:
http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=6308 [centauri-dreams.org]
If we're lucky, maybe Cassini will image a gasbag on its final death dive into Saturn.
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(Score: 1) by DeKO on Thursday April 27 2017, @06:59AM
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.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @11:16PM (1 child)
Silly Buzzard, you don't get megaviews on youtube by not running into a planet.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 27 2017, @12:32AM
You will get megaviews if you manage to throw yourself at the Earth and miss.
Don't go celebrating by having fun on the wings of a plane though ... (I'll assume that most here have read the HHGTTG sequels)
(Score: 2) by Valkor on Wednesday April 26 2017, @11:47PM (1 child)
"how to not run into a gigantic planet..."
Sometimes hitting the planet is the hardest part.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 27 2017, @12:36AM
When has armchair cosmonaut Buzzard left the gravity well of Earth? Or even played Spacewar?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 27 2017, @12:05AM
Just asking. [wikipedia.org]