{"id":16118,"date":"2015-08-20T21:40:12","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T13:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-probe-makes-last-visit-to-saturns-moon-dione\/"},"modified":"2015-08-20T21:40:12","modified_gmt":"2015-08-20T13:40:12","slug":"nasa-probe-makes-last-visit-to-saturns-moon-dione","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-probe-makes-last-visit-to-saturns-moon-dione\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA probe makes last visit to Saturn\u2019s moon Dione"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The Cassini spacecraft snapped this view of Dione backdropped by Saturn on Monday. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Space Science Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scientists are getting a final look at Saturn\u2019s icy moon Dione for decades to come with fresh imagery streaming down this week from NASA\u2019s Cassini spacecraft, which made its last close flyby of the Texas-sized satellite Monday.<\/p>\n

The raw images from Cassini\u2019s camera show Dione projected against a dramatic backdrop of Saturn\u2019s hazy atmosphere and famous rings and close-up views of Dione\u2019s frozen, cratered surface.<\/p>\n

Cassini targeted a trajectory passing about 295 miles \u2014 474 kilometers \u2014 from Dione. The prime science objectives of the flyby included image-taking, gathering gravity science data to study Dione\u2019s internal structure, mapping regions on the moon thought to be thermal traps, and searching for dust particles emitted from Dione.<\/p>\n

High-resolution photos of Dione\u2019s north pole were also expected.<\/p>\n

\"Dione
Dione eclipses one of Saturn\u2019s rings. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Space Science Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dione measures about 698 miles \u2014 1,123 kilometers \u2014 in diameter and completes one lap around Saturn every 2.7 day. It circles the gas giant at about the same distance as the moon orbits Earth.<\/p>\n

Researchers hope data from the flyby, which is still being transmitted from Cassini, will help determine whether Dione is geologically active like some of Saturn\u2019s other moons.<\/p>\n

Cassini\u2019s four previous nearby encounters with Dione revealed brilliant wispy streaks across its surface. Sharp imagery showed the features to be part of a canyon system with towering walls covered in bright ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cDione has been an enigma, giving hints of active geologic processes, including a transient atmosphere and evidence of ice volcanoes. But we\u2019ve never found the smoking gun. The fifth flyby of Dione (was) our last chance,\u201d said Bonnie Buratti, a Cassini science team member at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.<\/p>\n

\"This
This raw image of Dione was captured during Cassini\u2019s encounter Monday. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Space Science Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In its 12th year orbiting Saturn, Cassini is busily ticking off a series of \u201clasts\u201d on its to-do list as the spacecraft heads for a destructive dive into Saturn in September 2017. The probe is running low on propellant, so scientists devised a plan to guide Cassini into an uncharted region inside of Saturn\u2019s rings before the end of the mission.<\/p>\n

But the flight plan means Cassini will no longer pass through Saturn\u2019s extensive moon system.<\/p>\n

Cassini\u2019s last flyby of Hyperion, a moon with a striking sponge-like appearance, occurred in May. After Monday\u2019s final encounter with Dione, Cassini heads for a series of three flybys of Enceladus, which has geysers erupting near its south pole spitting out material from an underground ocean.<\/p>\n

One of the flybys scheduled for Oct. 28 will place Cassini just 30 miles over Enceladus and is timed for when the moon\u2019s plumes are at maximum output. The mission\u2019s last close visit to Enceladus is set for Dec. 19.<\/p>\n

Regular flybys of Titan, Saturn\u2019s largest moon with a thick nitrogen-methane atmosphere, will continue through late 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be our last chance to see Dione up close for many years to come,\u201d said Scott Edgington, Cassini mission deputy project scientist at JPL, before Monday\u2019s flyby. \u201cCassini has provided insights into this icy moon\u2019s mysteries, along with a rich data set and a host of new questions for scientists to ponder.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

The Cassini spacecraft snapped this view of Dione backdropped by Saturn on Monday. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Space Science Institute Scientists are getting a final look at Saturn\u2019s icy moon Dione for decades to come with fresh imagery streaming down this week from NASA\u2019s Cassini spacecraft, which made its last close flyby of the Texas-sized satellite Monday. The […]<\/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":[2394,3563,1562],"class_list":["post-16118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-cassini","tag-dione","tag-saturn"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16118"}],"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=16118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}