NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has completed its mission by diving into Saturn.
The event took place early this morning as scientists at NASA set the probe to propel itself into the planet. The act was done to keep the moons on the planet in prime condition for future expeditions.
During its fatal fall to Saturn, Cassini continued to send data back to scientists at NASA. The organization plans to use this information to better understand the planet. For the 22 weeks prior to its destruction, the spacecraft swerved in between Saturn and its rings to collect information. This was a first for a spacecraft.
Cassini also spent much of its mission sending data on Saturn’s moons back to NASA. This includes the revelation of oceans on Titan and Enceladus. The craft spent 20 years collecting data as it traveled through space and around Saturn.
NASA first sent Cassini off on its mission to Saturn in 1997 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. However, it didn’t actually make it to the planet until 2004. The mission was supposed to end much earlier than today, but got two extensions that made it last for a total of 20 years.
“Cassini may be gone, but its scientific bounty will keep us occupied for many years,” Linda Spilker, a project scientist for Cassini at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. “We’ve only scratched the surface of what we can learn from the mountain of data it has sent back over its lifetime.”
As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
