{"id":9128,"date":"2010-02-17T09:24:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-17T09:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/cassini-shoots-new-close-ups-of-death-star-like-moon\/"},"modified":"2010-02-17T09:24:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-17T09:24:00","slug":"cassini-shoots-new-close-ups-of-death-star-like-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/space-station\/cassini-shoots-new-close-ups-of-death-star-like-moon.php","title":{"rendered":"Cassini Shoots New Close-Ups of Death Star-like Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Saturn's<\/span>
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Cassini captured this image of Mimas' giant Herschel Crater, which measures about 140 kilometers (88 miles) wide, during its Feb. 13, 2010, flyby of the Death Star-like Saturnian moon.
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Blazing through its closest pass of the Saturnian moon Mimas<\/span> on Feb. 13, Cassini<\/a> <\/span>sent back striking close-ups of the moon likened to the Death Star from \"Star Wars<\/span>\" and the enormous crater scarring its surface. The flyby also yielded solid data on the moon's thermal signature and surface composition. <\/span><\/p>

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Some of the raw, unprocessed images sent back from the flyby show the bright, steep slopes of the giant Herschel Crater<\/span>, which measures about 140 kilometers (88 miles) wide. The icy slopes appear to be pitched around 24 degrees, which would probably earn them a black- or double-black-diamond rating on Earth<\/span>. Olympic downhill skiers could probably tear down these runs with ease, but it's clear Mimas is no place for bunny-slope beginners. <\/span><\/p>

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The images, which have the highest resolution so far, also show jumbled terrain inside the crater and many craters within the crater. These features hint at a long history, which scientists will be working diligently to analyze. <\/span><\/p>

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\"This flyby has been like looking at a cell or an onion skin under the microscope for the first time,\" said Bonnie Buratti, one of the leads for the Satellite Orbiter Science Team<\/span>. \"We'd seen the large crater from afar since the early 1980s, but now its small bumps and blemishes are all clearly visible.\" <\/span><\/p>

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This encounter took the spacecraft as close as about 9,500 kilometers (5,900 miles) above Mimas. Cassini <\/span>had to maneuver through a dusty region to get in position, but survived the trip unscathed, as expected.
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The moon averages 396 kilometers (246 miles) in diameter. The walls of Herschel Crater<\/span> are about 5 kilometers (3 miles) high, and parts of the floor are approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep. <\/span><\/p>

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Unprocessed images of the flyby are available at http:\/\/saturn.jpl.nasa.gov\/photos\/raw\/<\/a>. More information about the Cassini mission is at http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/cassini<\/a> and http:\/\/saturn.jpl.nasa.gov<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>

View my blog's last three great articles....<\/span><\/span><\/p>