Updates Cassini Mission News and Updates

[Andy44]

Video, starting at T-2 minutes to EOM:

https://youtu.be/_dTYfFz5vII?t=14m38s

The comments on that video confirm one's deepest fears about human stupidity.

 

[boogabooga]

The comments on that video confirm one's deepest fears about human stupidity.

It's RT. Possibly professional trolls.

 

[cristiapi]

Loss of signal Altitude

As far as I understand from the video, the last signal was received at 11:55:46 (UTC, I guess). Since the light travel time was 5007 seconds, the time was 10:32:19 UTC.
According to JPL’s data file, the altitude above the 1 bar surface was about 1200 km:

1) Could anyone confirm 11:55:46 UTC for the loss of signal (my English is not too good)?
2) I expected/hoped a much lower altitude. Does anyone know the actual altitude for the loss of signal?

 

[Keatah]

The comments on that video confirm one's deepest fears about human stupidity.

Amusing and entertaining in a potty-humor gas bag sort of way.

 

[Artlav]

Wow, i didn't expect such a stretched-out atmosphere. 1200 km between what would be about 100 km on Earth and one atm level?

...I should probably fire up Orbiter and see what we have there...

 

[DaveS]

EOM was defined as final Loss of Signal (LOS), not spacecraft break-up. LOS was expected to occur due the thruster's inability to keep the antennas pointed at Earth. The first LOS was for the main Hi-gain antenna (X-band) at 11:55:39 UTC and the final LOS and EOM was the low-gain antenna (S-band) at 11:55:46 UTC.

 

[jgrillo2002]

The comments on that video confirm one's deepest fears about human stupidity.

Agreed. I seriously hate stupid people.

 

[Linguofreak]

Wow, i didn't expect such a stretched-out atmosphere. 1200 km between what would be about 100 km on Earth and one atm level?

...I should probably fire up Orbiter and see what we have there...

Scale height on Saturn is almost 60 km. Hydrogen and Helium are much fluffier than Nitrogen and Oxygen, and the surface gravity isn't much higher than on Earth.

Also, aerodynamic forces, heating, etc. will start to effect you somewhat higher when you're entering at 30 km/s than at more typical Earth entry speeds (though not too much higher, as atmospheric falloff is exponential).

 

[Keatah]

"Surface" gravity on Saturn is about 90% that of Earth's due to density and the mass being spread over such a wide area. The max pull in any one direction (like down) assuming the surface is marked at the 1 bar altitude is around 10.4m/s.

 

[cristiapi]

The max pull in any one direction (like down) assuming the surface is marked at the 1 bar altitude is around 10.4m/s.

Please, could you elaborate a bit?

---------- Post added at 14:05 ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 ----------

...I should probably fire up Orbiter and see what we have there...

Here is the state to put in your ship:

  STATUS Orbiting Saturn
  RPOS 63604273.5219458 79362888.2498281 46766156.8726015
  RVEL -6565.30431463499 -22700.6901457099 7774.13533356268
  AROT -71.42 15.50 -57.01

for MJD 58011.396634056.

You'll have a good surprise...

 

[Keatah]

Despite being much more massive than the Earth, Saturn's mass is spread out. It tugs at you from all sides. The gravity is distributed in all directions, so to speak. With Earth, all the mass is more concentrated and most of it pulls you in the vertical direction.

 

[Urwumpe]

Despite being much more massive than the Earth, Saturn's mass is spread out. It tugs at you from all sides. The gravity is distributed in all directions, so to speak. With Earth, all the mass is more concentrated and most of it pulls you in he vertical direction.

Yes, the average density of Saturn is actually less than the density of water.

 

[cristiapi]

Despite being much more massive than the Earth, Saturn's mass is spread out. It tugs at you from all sides. The gravity is distributed in all directions, so to speak. With Earth, all the mass is more concentrated and most of it pulls you in he vertical direction.

Thank you.
How can 10.4 m/s be calculated? You really mean "m/s" (a velocity) or do you mean m/s/s (an acceleration)?

 

[Urwumpe]

Thank you.
How can 10.4 m/s be calculated? You really mean "m/s" (a velocity) or do you mean m/s/s (an acceleration)?

I am VERY sure he means the acceleration in m/s².

 

[Notebook]

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2017/11/Cassini_s_farewell_mosaic_of_Saturn

Title Cassini’s farewell mosaic of Saturn
Released 04/12/2017 9:00 am
Copyright NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

 

[Unstung]

Science News: "Most complete map of Titan reveals connected seas and cookie-cutter lakes"

 

[4throck]

I think some of the regional altimetry is of good resolution.
Let's hope it becomes available on a better format.

 

[Notebook]

The Cassini satellite has almost run out of fuel.
Its final mission, on 15 September, is to dive into the planet's thick atmosphere, where it will meet a fiery end.
An encounter with the moon Titan has nudged Cassini's trajectory on to a collision course with Saturn. Nasa has called this manoeuvre a “goodbye kiss”.
For 13 years, the orbiter has been sending back to Earth images of its extraordinary discoveries at Saturn.
It has documented the possible birth of a moon, tasted an extra-terrestrial ocean and watched as a giant storm encircled the entire planet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/cassini_huygens_saturn

N.

 

[Andy44]

The Cassini satellite has almost run out of fuel.
Its final mission, on 15 September, is to dive into the planet's thick atmosphere, where it will meet a fiery end.

N.

A few months late, no?

 

[Notebook]

Indeed, must have been made a while ago. Interesting little resume though.

N.