CupofJoe
Myth Weaver
08:43, 15 October 1997 - 11:45, 15 September 2017
Cassini—Huygens
You will be missed.
Cassini—Huygens
You will be missed.
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Cassini–Huygens 1997 - 2017
- Thread starter CupofJoe
- Start date
Cassini was indeed a wonderful little spacecraft, and surely it's going to be missed by many people!
I do not understand why it had to be deliberately crashed into Saturn, instead of remaining in the orbit permanently. At least, Cassini and Huygens sent loads of valuable information to Earth and our knowledge of the Saturnian system has greatly improved. A legendary space mission with great accomplishments.
They say something about the need to avoid contaminating a moon with Earth microbes in case that Cassini crashed, but I still think that it would have been better to leave it in orbit just like that.
Have you seen the special documentary about Cassini and Huygens at National Geographic channel?
I hope that they send a spacecraft to Uranus the next time. At least to me, Uranus and Neptune also are far more interesting than Saturn. I believe firmly that Uranus and Neptune are composed of solid water ice under the dense cloud cover, even if the accepted theories disagree with me.
They have to be made of real and solid ice, because they are extremely far from the sun and the atmospheres are super cold. Even if the water under the cloud cover is combined with methane, it has to be solid! There is no other way.
The Uranian moon Titania is a particular obsession of mine.
I do not understand why it had to be deliberately crashed into Saturn, instead of remaining in the orbit permanently. At least, Cassini and Huygens sent loads of valuable information to Earth and our knowledge of the Saturnian system has greatly improved. A legendary space mission with great accomplishments.
They say something about the need to avoid contaminating a moon with Earth microbes in case that Cassini crashed, but I still think that it would have been better to leave it in orbit just like that.
Have you seen the special documentary about Cassini and Huygens at National Geographic channel?
I hope that they send a spacecraft to Uranus the next time. At least to me, Uranus and Neptune also are far more interesting than Saturn. I believe firmly that Uranus and Neptune are composed of solid water ice under the dense cloud cover, even if the accepted theories disagree with me.
They have to be made of real and solid ice, because they are extremely far from the sun and the atmospheres are super cold. Even if the water under the cloud cover is combined with methane, it has to be solid! There is no other way.
The Uranian moon Titania is a particular obsession of mine.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
I think the plan was to crash it so as to capture more information they could not have gotten if it had stayed in orbit. Reasoning being, its only going to get one trip through the clouds, so lets make it the last thing we do with it. I love space. I want to go explore it all. But its just too damn large and too far away to do much with. Maybe in another lifetime.
- Thread starter
- #4
CupofJoe
Myth Weaver
I hadn't heard about earth microbes being the problem. I thought it was the radioactive decay reactor... I know they were running out of navigational fuel so they had just one course change left...
I don't the NG channel but the BBC stepped up with a couple of documentaries including an almost tearful Sky at Night. I love that there is still a software version of the Probe that can run "theoretical" missions... all built with 1980s computers.
I know it is expensive and takes years [decades even, and is incredibly dangerous if not ultimately fatal] but we need more space exploration not less.
Soujourner, Curiosity, even Beagle2 [so close!] were great for our interest in Mars but Damnit! I want people there!
I want there to be a Moon Base. I want there to be missions to Mars. I want there to be human eyes seeing these things. I'll even volunteer if they want one... but apparently I'm too old and have none of the necessary skills...
I don't the NG channel but the BBC stepped up with a couple of documentaries including an almost tearful Sky at Night. I love that there is still a software version of the Probe that can run "theoretical" missions... all built with 1980s computers.
I know it is expensive and takes years [decades even, and is incredibly dangerous if not ultimately fatal] but we need more space exploration not less.
Soujourner, Curiosity, even Beagle2 [so close!] were great for our interest in Mars but Damnit! I want people there!
I want there to be a Moon Base. I want there to be missions to Mars. I want there to be human eyes seeing these things. I'll even volunteer if they want one... but apparently I'm too old and have none of the necessary skills...
The special documentary about Cassini and Huygens is going to be premiered here in Mexico tomorrow night.
I thought that maybe it had already been premiered in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, but maybe not. Well I am going to make sure to watch it, and after that I plan to comment about the documentary here.
Yeah I agree that the solar system is fascinating.
I sometimes wonder why so many people dream with interstellar travel already, when we have not explored even our own backyard properly yet. There are so many mysteries and possible new homes here, in our own solar system, and it would be so great if we could travel and get to know all of it.
Still, I think of space as a dangerous and terrifying place.
The problem is that nobody has really traveled to outer space so far. As wonderful as a visit to the International Space Station can be, actually that's not the real out there. Even a travel to the Moon is not the real thing, since the Apollo missions were partially shielded by Earth's magnetic tail all the way up there.
I think of the Moon as the highest part of Earth's sky, the top of our ceiling.
Beyond the Moon there is the real thing, which means authentic outer space. The direct exposure to extremely powerful cosmic rays and other types of space radiation would be exceedingly dangerous to the crew of a spacecraft, unless said craft is well protected and powerful enough to avoid this type of deadly threat.
For a travel to Mars, we would need a spacecraft much larger than the Apollo ships. A hull strong and good enough to provide defense against cosmic rays, enough indoor space for the crew to live without feeling constrained all the time and most likely a system to simulate gravity by means of centrifugal force at least in some parts of the spacecraft.
This ship would have to be built in Earth's orbit, at some unimaginably expensive cost.
The alternative would be to find a way to somehow freeze people and thaw them back to life several years later, which seems equally far fetched at least at the moment.
Space is fascinating and awe-inspiring as well, it really teaches us just how very small we are.
I thought that maybe it had already been premiered in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, but maybe not. Well I am going to make sure to watch it, and after that I plan to comment about the documentary here.
Yeah I agree that the solar system is fascinating.
I sometimes wonder why so many people dream with interstellar travel already, when we have not explored even our own backyard properly yet. There are so many mysteries and possible new homes here, in our own solar system, and it would be so great if we could travel and get to know all of it.
Still, I think of space as a dangerous and terrifying place.
The problem is that nobody has really traveled to outer space so far. As wonderful as a visit to the International Space Station can be, actually that's not the real out there. Even a travel to the Moon is not the real thing, since the Apollo missions were partially shielded by Earth's magnetic tail all the way up there.
I think of the Moon as the highest part of Earth's sky, the top of our ceiling.
Beyond the Moon there is the real thing, which means authentic outer space. The direct exposure to extremely powerful cosmic rays and other types of space radiation would be exceedingly dangerous to the crew of a spacecraft, unless said craft is well protected and powerful enough to avoid this type of deadly threat.
For a travel to Mars, we would need a spacecraft much larger than the Apollo ships. A hull strong and good enough to provide defense against cosmic rays, enough indoor space for the crew to live without feeling constrained all the time and most likely a system to simulate gravity by means of centrifugal force at least in some parts of the spacecraft.
This ship would have to be built in Earth's orbit, at some unimaginably expensive cost.
The alternative would be to find a way to somehow freeze people and thaw them back to life several years later, which seems equally far fetched at least at the moment.
Space is fascinating and awe-inspiring as well, it really teaches us just how very small we are.
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I already watched that new TV documentary about Cassini and Huygens!
National Geographic advertised it here as Cassini: El Gran Final but the actual name of this documentary is Mission Saturn. The rather short but otherwise great documentary covers the entire history of the Cassini and Huygens mission, from the very start of the dream to the sad but necessary crash into the mysterious ringed planet.
They explained in particular that the discoveries about the Enceladus moon are especially great, to the point that NASA scientists are almost sure that there is at least microbial life in the global ocean that exists below Enceladus' bright and icy crust.
This is why Cassini was intentionally crashed into Saturn.
The NASA scientists could not risk to just leave Cassini in permanent orbit of Saturn, because one day it could end up crashing against Enceladus and this would have opened the possibility of bacterial contamination of the frozen moon with Earth microbes. Then, the best solution was the intentional crash.
Several of the important NASA people were interviewed for the documentary, I recommend it a lot.
What I liked the most was when they explained that the clear, great quality and colorful pictures taken by Cassini are very similar to what our own eyes would see through the window of a spacecraft. That surprised me, because I used to believe that sunlight there would be so low that we would barely be able to see Saturn at all.
Wonderful Cassini and Huygens... now, send a spacecraft to Uranus and Titania please! XD
National Geographic advertised it here as Cassini: El Gran Final but the actual name of this documentary is Mission Saturn. The rather short but otherwise great documentary covers the entire history of the Cassini and Huygens mission, from the very start of the dream to the sad but necessary crash into the mysterious ringed planet.
They explained in particular that the discoveries about the Enceladus moon are especially great, to the point that NASA scientists are almost sure that there is at least microbial life in the global ocean that exists below Enceladus' bright and icy crust.
This is why Cassini was intentionally crashed into Saturn.
The NASA scientists could not risk to just leave Cassini in permanent orbit of Saturn, because one day it could end up crashing against Enceladus and this would have opened the possibility of bacterial contamination of the frozen moon with Earth microbes. Then, the best solution was the intentional crash.
Several of the important NASA people were interviewed for the documentary, I recommend it a lot.
What I liked the most was when they explained that the clear, great quality and colorful pictures taken by Cassini are very similar to what our own eyes would see through the window of a spacecraft. That surprised me, because I used to believe that sunlight there would be so low that we would barely be able to see Saturn at all.
Wonderful Cassini and Huygens... now, send a spacecraft to Uranus and Titania please! XD
- Thread starter
- #7
CupofJoe
Myth Weaver
Oh my! [Fans face like a Southern Belle...]
Cassini's Last Ring Portrait at Saturn
Cassini's Last Ring Portrait at Saturn