NASAs Cassini spacecraft marked 15 years in space Monday (Oct. 15), and the well-traveled probe wont stop studying Saturn and its many moons anytime soon. <\/p>\n
Cassini has logged more than 3.8 billion miles (6.1 billion kilometers) since its launch on Oct. 15, 1997, researchers said. The spacecraft has made many contributions since arriving at Saturn in July 2004, including discovering water-ice geysers on the moon Encelaudus and snapping the first views of the hydrocarbon lakes on Saturns largest moon Titan. <\/p>\n
During its time in space, the Cassini probe has sent home about 444 gigabytes of scientific data, including more than 300,000 images. Researchers have published more than 2,500 papers based on Cassini data so far, NASA officials said. <\/p>\n
\"As Cassini conducts the most in-depth survey of a giant planet to date, the spacecraft has been flying the most complex gravity-assisted trajectory ever attempted,\" Robert Mitchell, Cassini program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. [Gallery: Latest Photos from Cassini] <\/p>\n
\"Each flyby of Titan, for example, is like threading the eye of the needle,\" Mitchell added. And we've done it 87 times so far, with accuracies generally within about one mile, and all controlled from Earth about one billion miles away.\" <\/p>\n
Cassinis operators have sent it to visit more than a dozen of Saturns 60-plus moons in the last eight years, and they sometimes ask the probe to get shots of the planets poles (and the poles of some of its moons). <\/p>\n
Planning out such an ambitious flight path is complicated, especially given the gravitational influences of Saturns moons and Cassinis limited fuel supply, mission managers said. <\/p>\n
\"I'm proud to say Cassini has accomplished all of this every year on-budget, with relatively few health issues,\" Mitchell said. \"Cassini is entering middle age, with the associated signs of the passage of years, but it's doing remarkably well and doesn't require any major surgery.\" <\/p>\n
Cassini wont take it easy as it enters its golden years. Spring has just come to the northern hemisphere of Saturn and its moons, and mission managers want the spacecraft to study the changes wrought by this seasonal shift. <\/p>\n
And then Cassini will end its life with a bang. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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NASA's Cassini Probe at Saturn Celebrates 15 Years in Space<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASAs Cassini spacecraft marked 15 years in space Monday (Oct. 15), and the well-traveled probe wont stop studying Saturn and its many moons anytime soon Continue reading