{"id":14599,"date":"2017-05-22T17:42:10","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T09:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-cassini-spacecraft-aims-to-skirt-saturns-innermost-ring\/"},"modified":"2017-05-22T17:42:10","modified_gmt":"2017-05-22T09:42:10","slug":"nasas-cassini-spacecraft-aims-to-skirt-saturns-innermost-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-cassini-spacecraft-aims-to-skirt-saturns-innermost-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Cassini spacecraft aims to skirt Saturn\u2019s innermost ring"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Cassini took this image of Saturn and its rings May 13. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Space Science Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fresh off its fifth passage through a gap between Saturn\u2019s atmosphere and rings, NASA\u2019s robotic Cassini spacecraft is looping toward a close brush with the planet\u2019s innermost ring next week, when the probe will again use its high-gain antenna as a shield against icy particles that may lie in its path.<\/p>\n

Cassini made another safe trip through the 1,500-mile (2,400-kilometer) space between Saturn and its rings at 0311 GMT Monday (11:11 p.m. EDT Sunday), according to NASA, marking the fifth time the craft has dived through the previously-unexplored region since late April.<\/p>\n

During its latest ring passage, the orbiter\u2019s instruments were expected to measure Saturn\u2019s gravitational field and gather data on the mass of the planet\u2019s rings. Cassini\u2019s Cosmic Dust Analyzer instrument was also supposed to collect and analyze ring particles on this week\u2019s flyby.<\/p>\n

\u201cInterplanetary meteoroids bombard Saturn\u2019s main rings, depositing silicates, organics, and metals in the ring particles,\u201d scientists wrote in a description of this week\u2019s flight through the ring gap. \u201cThe more of those contaminants the CDA (Cosmic Dust Analyzer) finds, the older Saturn\u2019s rings probably are.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA tweeted from Cassini\u2019s account Monday that the flyby was successful.<\/p>\n

\"\"
This diagram created by Cassini mission planners illustrates the close approaches of the spacecraft during its Grand Finale orbits between Saturn\u2019s innermost (D) ring and the giant planet\u2019s atmosphere. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Erick Sturm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The plutonium-powered spacecraft is in its final months, with its orbit around Saturn now taking it on weekly plunges through the ring gap.<\/p>\n

Data recorded during the close-up flybys will help tell scientists the age of Saturn\u2019s rings, which will indicate their likely origin. More measurements of the rings\u2019 mass and Saturn\u2019s magnetic field, atmosphere and internal structure are also on tap during Cassini\u2019s final months.<\/p>\n

The orbiter is heading for a Sept. 15 plunge into Saturn\u2019s atmosphere, a guided dive during which Cassini will be crushed and vaporized. The craft is running low on fuel, and officials want to ensure the probe is destroyed before losing control of it.<\/p>\n

Scientists worry that Cassini could eventually collide with one of Saturn\u2019s habitable moons, such as Titan or Enceladus, and spoil future discoveries.<\/p>\n

Cassini\u2019s next journey through the ring gap is set for 1422 GMT (10:22 a.m. EDT) Sunday, May 28, when the spacecraft will make its closest brush with the inner edge of Saturn\u2019s D ring, a belt of tiny ice particles encircling the planet.<\/p>\n

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Artist\u2019s concept of the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ground controllers will command the spacecraft to point its dish-shaped antenna in its direction of travel during Sunday\u2019s approach as a safeguard against potentially damaging impacts from ring particles. So far, scientists have detected fewer strikes from icy debris in the ring gap than predicted, allowing engineers to forego using the antenna as a shield during the last four flybys.<\/p>\n

Cautious managers directed the antenna to point forward \u2014 in its so-called \u201cram\u201d position \u2014 during Cassini\u2019s first flight through the ring gap last month.<\/p>\n

Objectives during Sunday\u2019s flyby include unprecedented radar observations of the structure of Saturn\u2019s rings, up-close imaging of the rings, and listening for particle impacts with one of Cassini\u2019s science instruments.<\/p>\n

Because the high-gain antenna will not be aimed at Earth, Cassini will be out of contact with mission control during Sunday\u2019s encounter. The craft is scheduled to radio its status back to Earth around 0329 GMT Monday, May 29 (11:29 p.m. EDT Sunday).<\/p>\n

Cassini will come close to Saturn\u2019s D ring on three more occasions in June and July, when it will again use its antenna for protection.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cassini took this image of Saturn and its rings May 13. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Space Science Institute Fresh off its fifth passage through a gap between Saturn\u2019s atmosphere and rings, NASA\u2019s robotic Cassini spacecraft is looping toward a close brush with the planet\u2019s innermost ring next week, when the probe will again use its high-gain antenna as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2394,1183,1561,1562],"class_list":["post-14599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-cassini","tag-jet-propulsion-laboratory","tag-planetary-science","tag-saturn"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}