After 20 years on the outskirts of the Solar system, the spacecraft «Cassini» sent its last signal to Earth after sunk in the silence of boundless space. Around 5:00 a.m. jet propulsion Laboratory, NASA lost contact with Cassini about an hour after he entered the atmosphere of Saturn. Thus ended the 13-year mission to study Saturn and its moons.
Date Cassini’s death was planned for several months. The spacecraft remains very little fuel, and he crashed into one of Saturn’s moons, where potentially life could exist, NASA decided to let him die with honor, having burned in the planet’s atmosphere, which he studied for over 10 years. It is worth noting that a lonely space Explorer has collected data for as long as he worked his sensors. In his last hours «Cassini» sent to Earth final batch of images taken in the last days of the mission. These frames are a kind of Swan song device.
One last look…Explore the final @CassiniSaturn pics, taken just hours before its fateful plunge into the planet: https://t.co/dyewjqLoiZ pic.twitter.com/NeOxO8EFHR
— NASA (@NASA) September 15, 2017
Cassini was created by experts from NASA, with the participation of their colleagues from European and Italian space agencies. The probe sent into space on 15 September 1997. For 7 years he flew to Saturn and 13 held in orbit around a planet on the outer rim of our Solar system. The Cassini mission, according to the original plans, was supposed to end in 2008, but it was twice extended.
Cassini has helped mankind to learn about Saturn and its system of satellites. Scientists have obtained invaluable data about the change of seasons on the gas giant, its the auroras and the vortices in its atmosphere. The combination of these data helps astronomers better understand the early history of the Solar system. In addition, the satellite Enceladus Cassini discovered warm ocean, which may indicate the presence of life.
Per aspera ad astra. Through the thorns to the stars, Cassini. We will not forget you.
