NASA has released raw images of the gran finale trip for Cassini, Satellite, they have posted 384,606 images that were taken by the satellite, as it makes its last journey.
Set off in 1999, it took 5 years to get there, arriving in 2004,it’s the first satellite to enter the orbit of Saturn.
After 20 years, It’s finally coming to an end, it’s final mission will be ending between September and August.
Facts about the mission
Dimensions: 22 feet (6.7 meters)
height: 13.1 feet (4 meters) wide
Weight: 12,593 pounds (5,712 kg) with fuel, Huygens probe, adapter, etc; 4,685 pounds (2,125 kg) unfueled orbiter alone
Power: 885 watts (633 watts at end of mission) from radioisotope thermoelectric generators
NASA Released a statement
“Full Transcript:
Cassini’s Grand Finale
03:39
A lone explorer, on a mission to reveal the grandeur of Saturn, its rings and moons.
After 20 years in space NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is running out of fuel. And so, to protect moons of Saturn that could have conditions suitable for life, a spectacular end has been planned for this long-lived traveler from Earth.
In 2004, following a 7-year journey through the solar system, Cassini arrived at Saturn. The spacecraft carried a passenger, the European Huygens probe — the first human-made object to land on a world in the distant outer solar system.
For over a decade, Cassini has shared the wonders of Saturn and its family of icy moons, taking us to astounding worlds where methane rivers run to a methane sea.
Where jets of ice and gas are blasting material into space from a liquid water ocean that might harbor the ingredients for life.
And Saturn — a giant world ruled by raging storms and delicate harmonies of gravity.
Now, Cassini has one last, daring assignment.
Cassini’s Grand Finale is a brand new adventure. Twenty-two dives through the space between Saturn and its rings. As it repeatedly braves this unexplored region,
Cassini seeks new insights about the origins of the rings, and the nature of the planet’s interior — closer to Saturn than ever before.
On the final orbit, Cassini will plunge into Saturn fighting to keep its antenna pointed at Earth as it transmits its farewell.
In the skies of Saturn, the journey ends, as Cassini becomes part of the planet itself.” Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech
Photographs
You can view the full gallery here: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/raw-images/
