NASA Announces Cassini End-of-Mission Activities

[Rick]

NASA Announces Cassini End-of-Mission Activities

On Sept. 15, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will complete its remarkable story of exploration with an intentional plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, ending its mission after nearly 20 years in space. News briefings, photo opportunities and other media events will be held at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

More: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/3104/nasa-announces-cassini-end-of-mission-activities/

[Rick]

Saturn Plunge Nears for Cassini Spacecraft

In its final week, Cassini will pass several milestones en route to its science-rich Saturn plunge. (Times below are predicted and may change slightly; see https://go.nasa.gov/2wbaCBT for updated times.)

    Sept. 9 -- Cassini will make the last of 22 passes between Saturn itself and its rings -- closest approach is 1,044 miles (1,680 kilometers) above the clouds tops.

    Sept. 11 -- Cassini will make a distant flyby of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Even though the spacecraft will be at 73,974 miles (119,049 kilometers) away, the gravitational influence of the moon will slow down the spacecraft slightly as it speeds past. A few days later, instead of passing through the outermost fringes of Saturn's atmosphere, Cassini will dive in too deep to survive the friction and heating.

More: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6935

[ApophisAstros]

watch live
https://www.slooh.com/shows/situation-room
Roger

[Rick]

The Grand Finale Toolkit

On Sept. 15, 2017, the spacecraft will make its final approach to the giant planet Saturn. But this encounter will be like no other. This time, Cassini will dive into the planet's atmosphere, sending science data for as long as its small thrusters can keep the spacecraft's antenna pointed at Earth. Soon after, Cassini will burn up and disintegrate like a meteor.

More: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/overview/?linkId=42234778

[Rick]

Cassini's Final Image

APOD: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170916.html