Cassini Spacecraft
-
NASA
NASA Cassini Study Finds Organics ‘Fresh’ From Ocean of Enceladus
Researchers dove deep into information gathered from the ice grains that were collected during a close and super-fast flyby through a plume of Saturn’s icy moon. A new analysis of data from NASA’s Cassini mission found evidence of previously undetected organic compounds in a plume of ice particles ejected from the ocean that lies under the frozen shell of Saturn’s…
Read More » -
NASA
The Day Earth Smiled
On July 19, 2013, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft had a rare opportunity to image Saturn and, far in the background, Earth. This image spans about 404,880 miles (651,591 kilometers) across. With the Sun’s powerful and potentially damaging rays eclipsed by Saturn itself, Cassini’s onboard cameras were able to take advantage of this unique viewing geometry. They acquired a panoramic mosaic of the Saturn…
Read More » -
NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft Ends Its Historic Exploration of Saturn
A thrilling epoch in the exploration of our solar system came to a close today, as NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made a fateful plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn, ending its 13-year tour of the ringed planet. “This is the final chapter of an amazing mission, but it’s also a new beginning,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at…
Read More » -
NASA
Cassini Spacecraft Makes Its Final Approach to Saturn
This video shows Cassini’s last two Grand Finale orbits, followed by a distant flyby of Titan that pushes the spacecraft into Saturn (final half orbit, in orange). The video loops twice. Milestones in Cassini’s final dive toward Saturn. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Cassini’s path into Saturn’s upper atmosphere, with tick marks every 10 seconds. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech This unprocessed…
Read More »