Cassini mission ends with a plunge into Saturn's atmosphere
Posted: Sat, Sep 16, 2017, 9:06 AM ET (1306 GMT)
NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn ended Friday as the spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere of Saturn. Spacecraft controllers received the last signals from the spacecraft at 7:55 am EDT (1155 GMT) as expected, as the spacecraft entered the planet's atmosphere and disintegrated. NASA ended the mission in this manner in order to prevent a possible future collision of the spacecraft with the potentially habitable moons Enceladus and Titan. Cassini, launched in 1997, had been in orbit around Saturn since mid-2004, studying the planet, its rings, and its moons. It also deployed the ESA-developed Huygens probe to Titan shortly after arriving at the planet.
NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn ended Friday as the spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere of Saturn. Spacecraft controllers received the last signals from the spacecraft at 7:55 am EDT (1155 GMT) as expected, as the spacecraft entered the planet's atmosphere and disintegrated. NASA ended the mission in this manner in order to prevent a possible future collision of the spacecraft with the potentially habitable moons Enceladus and Titan. Cassini, launched in 1997, had been in orbit around Saturn since mid-2004, studying the planet, its rings, and its moons. It also deployed the ESA-developed Huygens probe to Titan shortly after arriving at the planet.
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