If you’ve ever looked at pictures of Saturn in awe, you have the Cassini space craft to thank for that.
The Cassini probe reached Saturn in 2004 and ever since then has been providing us with stunning images and fantastic science.
Cassini is how we know Titan has rivers and lakes of methane.
Cassini is how we know Enceladous has an ocean core and ejects water into space.
The enormous wealth of information that this probe has provided is now taken for granted. But good things can’t last forever, and the ageing spacecraft is running out of fuel. NASA has planed and programmed is final mission that will result in the destruction of the probe. even during it’s last moments, it will be transmission information that will unravel the mysteries of our solar system.
It’s an end of an era. There will be no new pictures coming from the Saturn system for quite some time. Cassini has done amazing work for us and has been invaluable in planning future missions. I have no doubt it’s final transmission will be just as valuable as it’s first.
God speed little guy; god speed.