Saying Goodbye To NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft

The final chapter in a remarkable mission of exploration and discovery, Cassini’s epic 20-year mission is finally over. The spacecraft plunged into Saturn Sept. 15, incinerating itself after 20 years in space.

Cassini’s plunge brings to a close a series of 22 weekly “Grand Finale” dives between Saturn and its rings, a feat never before attempted by any spacecraft.

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.

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.