Just before 8am EDT today, Cassini, the spacecraft sent to study Saturn and her moons, sent her last signal. She plunged into the Saturnian atmosphere to end a massively successful mission. Launched October 15, 1997, she spent Cassini spent 7 years en route and arrived at Saturn in 2004. For 13 years, she has explored the gas giant and released the Huygens probe from the ESA to land on Titan, a first for a celestial body in the outer solar system.
Cassini did flybys of Jupiter, our moon and Asteroid 2685 Masursky. She discovered new moons Methone, Pallene, Polydeucesin, Daphnis, Anthe, Aegaeon and S/2009 S 1. I'm sure they will find a better name for the last one.
She also performed flybys of moons Titan, Phoebe, Enceladus, Iapetus, Rhea, Hyperion and Dione.
Seventeen countries joined together in this effort.
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