All good things come to an end. As it neared the depletion of its fuel, NASA decided to destroy the CASSINI craft in a planned fiery atmospheric entry, rather than have the spacecraft crash into one of Saturn’s moons, potentially contaminating it. The CASSINI spacecraft was orientated so that it could deliver data right until the end as it was manoeuvred onto a collision course with Saturn’s atmosphere. The final signal from the craft, which was launched in October 1997, reached Earth at 1155 GMT on 15 September. Taking account of the signal delay, NASA calculated that the spacecraft was destroyed during its dive into the atmosphere at 1032 GMT.
Diagram of Cassini spacecraft showing key instruments. Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
During its near 20-year career, NASA’s spacecraft CASSINI has made some very interesting discoveries about the strange nature of Saturn and its Moons. The most famous are ice fountains on the moon Enceladus, the bizarre hexagonal storm at the planet’s pole and, via the delivery of ESA’S HUYGENS probe, the amusing “Littlehampton-like” coastlines that bordered giant hydrocarbon lakes and seas on Titan.
Strange Hexagonal storm at Saturn’s North Pole. Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
NASA’s CASSINI mission delivered some spectacular images of Saturn and its moons. Courtesy: NASA/JPL/Caltech/SSI
