Nasa's Cassini spacecraft poised to begin mission-ending dive into Saturn

On Friday, the spacecraft will plunge toward the giant planet and burn up in its atmosphere, ending a remarkable 20-year journey over eight billion kilometresAfter one last look atSaturn and its moons, Nasa ’s Cassini spacecraft will call time on its 20-year mission on Friday when it dives headlong into the giant planet and burns up in the atmosphere.And so a man-made meteor will streak across Saturn ’s sky soon after 11.30 am UK time, though confirmation of the spacecraft’s demise more than a billion kilometres away, and on the wrong side of the asteroid belt, will not reach Earth for another 83 minutes, when the signals beamed home from the probe fall silent.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - September 14, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Ian Sample Science editor Tags: Saturn Space Science Nasa Astronomy Source Type: news