Cassini's Final Phase on Saturn Before Its Death Dive in 2017
Cassini-Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to set to orbit planet Saturn. Cassini was sent to study the planet and its many natural satellites. The space probe arrived space in 2004 and its mission is ongoing as of 2016, however, it is currently going to be destroyed in 2017 due to running out of fuel for orbital corrections.
The probe is set to dive into the planet to avoid possible biological contamination of Saturn's moon. As of November 30, Cassini entered the final phase of the project. It is set to lunge through the outer ring of Saturn every 20 times and once every seven days before its death dive in 2017.
The spacecraft entered the areas that have been untouched and getting the closest look ever at the Saturn's outer rings. The space probe passed the planet's rings last December 4. The spacecraft captured nearly 900 million miles or 1.5 billion kilometers of the color images of Earth and the moon, Luna.
The several objectives of Cassini's missions are to determine the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the Saturn's rings. It is also set to explore the composition of the satellite surface and the geological origin, to find out the behavior of the magnetosphere and the dark material on Iapetus' leading hemisphere, and to study the dynamic behavior of Saturn's atmosphere and cloud level. The space probe also studies the time variability of Titan's hazes and regional surface scale.
The team from Paris Observatory confirmed that the measurements prove that Saturn's moons are younger than the previously notion. It was revealed that most of the moons shift away from their parent planet in a quicker way that exceeds the anticipated rate. The planet's unyielding measurement is called the "Saturn's Love Number."
Researchers compared old images of the region to the snaps taken by Cassini. The study spotlighted on Saturn's four moonlets (tiny moons) and the moons' orbits. These moons are migrating faster than the dissipation factor.
