Some Cassini basics Let me start by saying that I think Cassini is an incredibly cool mission. Cassini launched in 1997 and reached Saturn's orbit in 2004. For people who don't work in the space science exploration world, that might seem like a really long time, but that is how long it takes to get places in our vast solar system (using current technology). Before it launched in 1997, engineers, scientists, technicians, managers, planners, and many others all spent countless hours over what was probably 6-10 years (or more!) developing and building the Cassini spacecraft and its science instruments. Finally it launched. Then everyone waited for seven YEARS before it even got to Saturn. There were still plenty of planning and commissioning activities (checkouts and calibration of everything on the spacecraft) to be done during those seven years, but that's still a long time to wait. Cassini's original prime mission was for four years, but like most missions that get sent way out into the solar system, it was extended twice. For the most recent seven-year extension granted in 2010, they announced the plan to end Cassini's mission by diving into the planet of Saturn (maybe this was the plan all along - I didn't look into it that closely). The main goal of this is to protect Saturn's moons from any possible contamination from the spacecraft because of the possibility that some of Saturn's moons might harbor life. If you are interested in learning more about how missions to other planets and moons try to prevent contaminating it - do a web search for "planetary protection." The whole point is that if we were to discover life somewhere else, we want to be sure we are not "self-discovering" something that actually just came from Earth. Cassini is actually officially the Cassini-Huygen's Mission, which was a cooperative mission between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Cassini spacecraft carried the European Huygens probe to the Saturn system. The Huygens probe LANDED on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, which is an incredible feat and a mind-blowing mission in its own right.
Final Thoughts on Cassini's Final Moments As someone who works at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) on similar missions, I like to put Cassini's incredible journey in the context of the greater solar system exploration that we undertake. If a seven-year cruise to Saturn sounds long then think about how long it felt for the 9.5 years it took New Horizons to reach Pluto! The life of New Horizons will be more similar to the Voyager missions as it continues to go farther out in our Solar System and studies Kuiper Belt objects. MESSENGER is an incredible mission that orbited Mercury and eventually met a similar demise as Cassini when we deliberately crashed it into Mercury's surface. The MESSENGER team came up with creative and unprecedented maneuvers to keep the spacecraft flying for as long as possible as close to the surface as they could. The teams on all of these incredible NASA missions are very innovative during extended mission to squeeze as much science as possible out the science instruments.
Eventually Parker Solar Probe, the NASA mission that I am working on currently, will also reach a similar end as MESSENGER and Cassini. It will orbit closer and closer to the sun until it finally dies a rapid, fiery death in the heart of our solar system. However that is still a long way off since we do not even launch until July 2018. As a fun gesture in honor of Cassini's Grand Finale, I drew the cartoon below to capture the Parker Solar Probe's reaction to learning about today's historic event!
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