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Thanks Tom, it seems a number of probes have adjusted their mission parameters when an unexpected discovery was made. I believe it also happened with the two Voyager spacecraft, allowing for a bonus flyby of Uranus & Neptune. It's surprising how the search for life in our solar system, which had for so long centered on Mars, has now expanded to include several moons around Saturn & Jupiter.
The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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HOTPE - your question got me interested, and just found a publication I never knew existed as it's not a field I spend much time on - Space Safety Magazine. Anyway, this article from there has a few more details:
https://goo.gl/hnFH3r
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Tomorrow at 9 pm HST (Wednesday 13th Sep) PBS Hawaii will broadcast the new Nova episode "Death Dive to Saturn" which will be about the Cassini mission.
Thanks for the head's up Tom. We really enjoyed it. The data and photos collected by Cassini is simply amazing... The information about Titan was fascinating. The method planned for Cassini's end is responsible and fitting although sad. Cassini's mission has given humankind so much invaluable information.
After 20 yrs of work focused on the Cassini mission by so many scientists, I can empathize w/the emotions they're feeling..saying farewell not only to the Cassini spacecraft but the relationships they had w/fellow scientists.
Appreciate the link to NASA's E-book too.
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Thanks for the head's up Tom. We really enjoyed it.
I did too. I just finished watching the episode, and it won't be long now until Cassini reaches the outer edge of Saturn's atmosphere. So many people, from so many nations made the mission possible, an incredible cooperative effort. And the images sent back to Earth, simply amazing. Every 5 minutes I found myself wishing I was watching the program on a bigger screen, a much bigger screen, even IMAX size to do the photos justice. Saturn is a phenomenally beautiful planet.
The Donner Party really wasn't that great of a party, was it?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Perhaps Imiloa will show it soon?
For those who missed the Nova episode and would like to see it, it's available online:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/death...aturn.html
Four hours and thirty minutes to go before Cassini's fiery demise...
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Mermaid - just wanted to thank you for your post. You hit the nail on the head. I'm watching NASA TV live right now and Earl Maize, the program manager, has just been interviewed. It was clear he was close to tears while explaining how the mission would end, but was also so proud of what the mission had achieved. Having been in a similar position while talking publicly, I really understood how he was feeling.
So many people on this island are also feeling the same way having supported the mission for so many years.
About 30 minutes to go...
ETA: It's also weird writing this knowing Cassini has already vaporized, it's just that there's an eighty-minute delay between Cassini sending data and us receiving it.
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The Cassini mission has ended a billion miles away, almost to the second NASA predicted. What an achievement and what a mission. The data the Cassini/Huygens mission took has already resulted in so many discoveries and there is so much more to come.
Congratulations to everyone involved all over the world, including those that helped support the mission from the Big Island.
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Great job guys! Amazing stuff.
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Pretty amazing. Launched in 1997 and expected to only run its mission to 2008. You can see lots of the last imagery taken before the crash on their twitter account too.
https://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn
and the more technical end of mission summary
https://youtu.be/H0pX2Ooxfo4?t=311
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Today I received an updated presentation by Dr Dennis Crabtree about the performance of ground-based telescopes around the year during the period 2011 - 2015. It's an interesting read and compares their performance in terms of numbers of publications they produce (i.e., scientific discoveries) and how much the publications influence scientific research (impact).
As usual, the MK telescopes do very well. In terms of the most publications, the Very Large Array in New Mexico is top, with the Keck on MK second, the VLT in Chile third and UKIRT on MK fourth. However, UKIRT comes top when it comes to the science impact of its papers. And, in a combined analysis, UKIRT comes out as the top performing telescope on the planet.
Not bad for a telescope with only six full-time staff!
Powerpoint:
https://goo.gl/DTnoGV
PDF:
https://goo.gl/9GLTcb
