NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has survived an unprecedented trip between Saturn and its rings, and 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 by phone from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Cassini skimmed 1,900 miles (3,100 kilometers) above Saturn’s cloud tops, closer than ever before, and came within 200 miles (320 kilometers) 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. via AP News
April 27, 2017
