{"id":18804,"date":"2017-09-15T21:56:36","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T13:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/fighting-for-science-to-the-last-cassini-mission-ends-with-smash-up-at-saturn\/"},"modified":"2017-09-15T21:56:36","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T13:56:36","slug":"fighting-for-science-to-the-last-cassini-mission-ends-with-smash-up-at-saturn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/fighting-for-science-to-the-last-cassini-mission-ends-with-smash-up-at-saturn\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting for science to the last: Cassini mission ends with smash-up at Saturn"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hugs
Cassini project manager Earl Maize hugs Julie Webster, spacecraft operations team manager, at Mission Control at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory just after the mission\u2019s end. Program scientist Linda Spilker is at left, and Jim Green, the head of NASA\u2019s Planetary Science Division, is at right. (NASA Photo \/ Joel Kowsky)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before its destruction, the bus-sized Cassini spacecraft fought Saturn\u2019s buffeting atmosphere to send back scientific data for even longer than NASA thought it would.<\/p>\n

But the end was inevitable: Twenty years after its launch, and 13 years after its arrival at the ringed planet, the final signals from Cassini were received at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., at 4:55:46 a.m. PT today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to call this the end of mission,\u201d Cassini project manager Earl Maize declared, during an early-morning webcast that was watched by tens of thousands. \u201cProject manager, off the net.\u201d<\/p>\n

The end was pre-ordained days earlier, when a final maneuver put the spacecraft on a course to dive into Saturn\u2019s upper atmosphere. NASA meticulously planned out the controlled descent to make sure there was no chance that Cassini could crash into one of Saturn\u2019s moons, which are certain to be targets for future missions.<\/p>\n

During the hours before the end, Cassini sent its last batch of images showing Saturn and its moons, and then it streamed back data from instruments that sampled Saturn\u2019s atmosphere and its magnetic field.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A Sept. 14 image from Cassini\u2019s Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer shows the spot in Saturn\u2019s atmosphere (marked by a white ellipse) where the spacecraft met its demise a day later. (NASA \/ JPL \/ ASI \/ University of Arizona \/ University of Leicester)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Titan\"
One of the last pictures sent back by NASA\u2019s Cassini orbiter shows Titan, a smog-covered moon of Saturn, with its hydrocarbon lakes visible toward the top of the image. (NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ SSI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Daphnis
This Sept. 13 image of Saturn\u2019s outer A ring, captured by NASA\u2019s Cassini spacecraft, shows the small moon Daphnis and the waves it raises in the edges of the Keeler Gap. (NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ SSI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
NASA released this color version of the final image captured at Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft\u2019s imaging cameras. It looks toward Saturn\u2019s night side, lit by reflected light from the rings, and shows the location where the spacecraft would enter the planet\u2019s atmosphere hours later. (NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ SSI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cassini\u2019s engineers determined that the spacecraft would encounter so much aerodynamic stress during its 76,000-mph dive that it would break up and vaporize even before hitting Saturn\u2019s cloud tops. NASA expected the final signal to be received back on Earth at 4:55:16 a.m. ET.<\/p>\n

Telemetry indicated that the spacecraft put up a noble fight. During the webcast, one team member in JPL\u2019s mission control room could be heard saying \u201cCassini is still there!\u201d<\/p>\n

The end came about half a minute later than NASA had anticipated.<\/p>\n

After Maize declared the operational phase of the $3.3 billion mission to be finished, the room melted into hugs, applause, cheers and more than a few tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lucky peanuts were there,\u201d NASA\u2019s associate administrator for science, Thomas Zurbuchen, said later in reference to the traditional snacks laid out for key mission moments at JPL. \u201cBut there was a lot of Kleenex.\u201d<\/p>\n