Cassini spacecraft survives its close-up with Saturn
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has survived an unprecedented trip between Saturn and its rings, and it has amazing pictures to show for it.
Flight controllers regained contact with Cassini on Thursday, a day after it became the first craft to cross this hazardous region. The rings are made up of countless icy particles, any of which could have smacked Cassini. The spacecraft’s big dish antenna served as a shield as it hurtled through the narrow gap, temporarily cutting off communications.
“We are just ecstatic,” project science engineer Jo Pitesky said from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Cassini skimmed 1,900 miles above Saturn’s cloud tops, closer than ever before, and came within 200 miles of the innermost visible ring. Scientists say the pictures show details never seen before — there’s an incredible close-up, for instance, of the gigantic swirling hurricane at Saturn’s north pole.
After 13 years of Cassini orbiting the planet, “Saturn continues to surprise us,” Pitesky said.
Data from the crossing are being sent to Earth twice, to make certain nothing is lost. It takes more than an hour for the signals to travel the approximately 1 billion miles between Saturn and Earth.
Twenty-one more crossings are planned — about one a week — before Cassini’s fatal plunge in mid-September. The next one is Tuesday.
While risky, there’s little to lose in this 4 -month grand finale, even if the spacecraft is lost, given that its fuel tank is practically empty, NASA said.
Cassini was launched in 1997 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and reached Saturn in 2004.