The End of Cassini

Four spacecraft have flown by or orbited Saturn.  The first was Pioneer 11 in 1979.  The Voyager 1 spacecraft flew by a year later and the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by a year after that, in 1981.  It was over two decades before another spacecraft visited Saturn.  In 1997, the Cassini spacecraft launched from Earth and reached Saturn in 2004.  Cassini was the first spacecraft placed in orbit about Saturn, giving astronomers their best chance yet to study Saturn and its moons in great detail.  At the time Cassini had a four year mission lifetime, but was extended twice.  Cassini was a VERY successful mission, but it comes to an end today when Cassini plummets into the atmosphere of Saturn.

Awesome image of Saturn's rings taken by Cassini.

Why must the Cassini mission come to an end?  Given Cassini's location, there is no way to re-fuel or fix any mechanical problems with the spacecraft.  NASA has made the decision to destroy the spacecraft in a controlled way while they still have the ability to do so.  The concern of doing nothing is the possibility of the spacecraft contaminating the pristine conditions (including water) on several of Saturn's moons.  Thus NASA has chosen to destroy the spacecraft in such a way to eliminate the possibility of contaminating the moons.

Cassini provided amazing views of Saturn and provided a great deal of information on Saturn's rings, storms, atmosphere, and moons.  Without Cassini we'd lack this very valuable information that tells us more about the planet and its moons as well as the Solar System as a whole.  Today this mission ends.  Farewell, Cassini!