[ad_1]
Cassini was launched in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1997, and spent seven years in transit, followed by 13 years in orbit around Saturn.
Artist view of Cassini spacecraft student Saturn
In 2000, he studied Jupiter for six months before reaching Saturn in 2004.
At that time, he discovered six other moons around Saturn, three-dimensional structures dominating the rings of Saturn and a giant storm that crossed the planet for nearly a year.
On December 13, 2004, he made his first flyby of the moons of Saturn, Titan and Dione.
On December 24, he released the Huygens spacecraft built by the European Space Agency on Titan, Saturn's moon, to study its atmosphere and surface composition.
There he discovered strange hydrocarbon lakes composed of ethane and methane.
In 2008, Cassini completed its main mission of exploring the Saturn system and began its expansion (Cassin Equinox mission).
In 2010, he began his second mission (Cassini Solstice Mission) which lasted until the explosion of Saturn's atmosphere.
In December 2011, Cassini obtained the higher resolution images of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.
In December of the following year, he followed the transit of Venus to test the feasibility of observing planets outside our solar system.
In March 2013, Cassini made the final flyby of the moon, Rhea, of Saturn, and measured its internal structure and gravitational appeal.
Cassini has not only studied Saturn – he has also captured an incredible view over his many moons. In the picture above, we can see Enceladus, the moon of Saturn, drifting before the rings and the tiny moon Pandora. He was captured on November 1, 2009, with all the scene is backlit by the sun
In July of this year, Cassini captured a black-lighted Saturn to examine the rings in detail and also captured an image of the Earth.
In April of this year, he flew his closest flight to Titan and launched his Grand Final orbit which ended on September 15th.
"The mission has changed the way we think life could have developed beyond our planet," said Andrew Coates, head of the Planetary Science Group at Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London.
"In addition to Mars, external moons like Enceladus, Europa and even Titan are now the best candidates for life elsewhere," he added. "We have completely rewritten the manuals on Saturn.
[ad_2]
Source link