OrbitalHub

Wikipedia dixit:

“The Cassini–Huygens (commonly called Cassini) mission was a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites. The Flagship-class unmanned robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA’s Cassini probe, and ESA’s Huygens lander which would be landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit. The craft were named after astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens.

Launched aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur on October 15, 1997, Cassini was active in space for more than 19 years, with 13 years spent orbiting Saturn, studying the planet and its system after entering orbit on July 1, 2004. The voyage to Saturn included flybys of Venus (April 1998 and July 1999), Earth (August 1999), the asteroid 2685 Masursky, and Jupiter (December 2000). Its mission ended on September 15, 2017, when Cassini was commanded to fly into Saturn’s upper atmosphere and burn up in order to prevent any risk of contaminating Saturn’s moons, which may offer habitable environments to stowaway terrestrial microbes on the spacecraft. (At that point Cassini lacked sufficient impulse to leave the Saturn system, so it could only be left in orbit, where it might collide with a moon, or be destroyed.) The mission is widely perceived to have been successful beyond expectation. Cassini-Huygens has been described by NASA’s Planetary Science Division Director as a “mission of firsts”, that has revolutionized human understanding of the Saturn system, including its moons and rings, and our understanding of where life might be found in the Solar System.

Cassini’s original mission was planned to last for four years, from June 2004 to May 2008. The mission was extended for another two years until September 2010, branded the Cassini Equinox Mission. The mission was extended a second and final time with the Cassini Solstice Mission, lasting another seven years until September 15, 2017, on which date Cassini was de-orbited to burn up in Saturn’s upper atmosphere.

The Huygens module traveled with Cassini until its separation from the probe on December 25, 2004; it was successfully landed by parachute on Titan on January 14, 2005. It successfully returned data to Earth for around 90 minutes, using the orbiter as a relay. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System and the first landing on a moon other than our own. Cassini continued to study the Saturn system in the following years.

At the end of its mission, the Cassini spacecraft executed the “Grand Finale” of its mission: a number of risky passes through the gaps between Saturn and Saturn’s inner rings. The purpose of this phase was to maximize Cassini’s scientific outcome before the spacecraft was destroyed. The atmospheric entry of Cassini effectively ended the mission.”

Video credit: NASA

Wikipedia dixit:

“The Cassini–Huygens (commonly called Cassini) mission was a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites. The Flagship-class unmanned robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA’s Cassini probe, and ESA’s Huygens lander which would be landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit. The craft were named after astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens.

Launched aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur on October 15, 1997, Cassini was active in space for more than 19 years, with 13 years spent orbiting Saturn, studying the planet and its system after entering orbit on July 1, 2004. The voyage to Saturn included flybys of Venus (April 1998 and July 1999), Earth (August 1999), the asteroid 2685 Masursky, and Jupiter (December 2000). Its mission ended on September 15, 2017, when Cassini was commanded to fly into Saturn’s upper atmosphere and burn up in order to prevent any risk of contaminating Saturn’s moons, which may offer habitable environments to stowaway terrestrial microbes on the spacecraft. (At that point Cassini lacked sufficient impulse to leave the Saturn system, so it could only be left in orbit, where it might collide with a moon, or be destroyed.) The mission is widely perceived to have been successful beyond expectation. Cassini-Huygens has been described by NASA’s Planetary Science Division Director as a “mission of firsts”, that has revolutionized human understanding of the Saturn system, including its moons and rings, and our understanding of where life might be found in the Solar System.

Cassini’s original mission was planned to last for four years, from June 2004 to May 2008. The mission was extended for another two years until September 2010, branded the Cassini Equinox Mission. The mission was extended a second and final time with the Cassini Solstice Mission, lasting another seven years until September 15, 2017, on which date Cassini was de-orbited to burn up in Saturn’s upper atmosphere.

The Huygens module traveled with Cassini until its separation from the probe on December 25, 2004; it was successfully landed by parachute on Titan on January 14, 2005. It successfully returned data to Earth for around 90 minutes, using the orbiter as a relay. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System and the first landing on a moon other than our own. Cassini continued to study the Saturn system in the following years.

At the end of its mission, the Cassini spacecraft executed the “Grand Finale” of its mission: a number of risky passes through the gaps between Saturn and Saturn’s inner rings. The purpose of this phase was to maximize Cassini’s scientific outcome before the spacecraft was destroyed. The atmospheric entry of Cassini effectively ended the mission.”

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“The SpaceX/Dragon cargo craft departed the International Space Station September 17, one month after delivering more than three tons of supplies and scientific experiments for the station’s residents. Expedition 53 Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency and station Commander Randy Bresnik used the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release Dragon after it was detached from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. Dragon was scheduled to move to a safe distance away from the station for its engine to conduct a deorbit burn, enabling it to drop out of orbit for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific southwest of Long Beach, California. Dragon was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on August 14, arriving at the orbital outpost August 16.”

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“After launching in their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 53-54 Soyuz Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and flight engineers Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA arrived at the International Space Station. The trio docked their Soyuz to the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the complex, to complete their six-hour journey to the station.”

Video credit: Roscosmos / NASA

NASA dixit:

“NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has explored the Saturn system since 2004, re-writing our understanding of the giant planet, its rings, moons and magnetosphere. For 13 years the spacecraft’s incredible, truly otherworldly images have revealed the wonder of Saturn in surprising, often awe-inspiring ways. Cassini is planetary exploration at its finest, proving that to truly reveal the grandeur of a world, there is no substitute for actually going there.”

Video credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA dixit:

“The final chapter in a remarkable mission of exploration and discovery, Cassini’s Grand Finale is in many ways like a brand new mission. Twenty-two times, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will dive through the unexplored space between Saturn and its rings. What we learn from these ultra-close passes over the planet could be some of the most exciting revelations ever returned by the long-lived spacecraft. This animated video tells the story of Cassini’s final, daring assignment and looks back at what the mission has accomplished.”

Video credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory