Cassini-Huygens or more commonly known as Cassini is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn. Cassini was sent on a mission to Sat...
Cassini-Huygens or more commonly known as Cassini is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn. Cassini was sent on a mission to Saturn on October 15th 1997 on an orbiter mission. 19 years have passed since the launch of this mission and Cassini has been a tremendous help in providing data to scientists at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena.
On Wednesday, Cassini performed the first of the 22 planned dives into Saturn’s rings providing never seen before images of the gas giant.
The probe was travelling at speeds reaching 77,000 mph (123919.49 kph) through a potentially destructive region filled with ice and other particles between the planet’s cloud tops and its rings. The probe had to use its dish-shaped antenna as a shield to avoid damage from the dangerous particles and thus preventing any communication with Earth during that time.
A little before midnight (Pacific time), the Deep Space Network picked up a far-off signal from Cassini.
"We are just ecstatic," project science engineer Jo Pitesky said from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The probe sent never seen before images of a giant hurricane at Saturn’s north pole.
After 13 years of Cassini orbiting the planet, "Saturn
continues to surprise us," Mr Pitesky said.
Officials at NASA are not sure whether the probe will be able to survive all the ring dives (the gap between Saturn and its rings is about 2,400 km wide).
The probe is expected to be able to study smaller moons and get data regarding the planet’s winds, clouds and gravity. This information will help scientists to figure out what causes the planet’s magnetic field, how fast the planet rotates and what lies beneath the layer of clouds.
The probe similar to its first dive will make further dives through the rings the next of which is scheduled for Tuesday. In September, Cassini is scheduled to self-destruct by plummeting into Saturn’s high pressured atmosphere.
"Cassini spacecraft has once again blazed a trail,
showing us new wonders and demonstrating where
our curiosity can take us if we dare," National Aeronautics and Space Administration planetary sciences chief Jim Green said.
Here is a breathtaking image of Saturn's atmosphere.
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| https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/images/index.html |
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