Margaret reviews NASA's Saturn mission and its fiery end with the Cassini spacecraft crashing into the planet!
Class Discussion Questions:
1) Why is Saturn called a "gas giant?"
2) Why did Margaret refer to Saturn as the "ringed planet?"
3) How is the moon Titan similar to Earth?
Read the Script:
I have something so cool for you! After spending two decades in space exploring Saturn, the Cassini Spacecraft ended its mission in a blaze of glory this month, literally. The spacecraft was intentionally crashed into the gas giant. But, before we get to Cassini's grand finale, let's start in the beginning.
[Voiceover] Tee minus 10, nine, eight, seven, six--
Cassini was an international space mission intended to explore Saturn up close and in-depth. In 1997, the spacecraft was launched on its seven year journey to Saturn, some 740 million miles. It carried 12 scientific instruments to take readings on the environment of the planet. On July 1, 2004, Cassini finally reached the ringed planet and got to work.
Among the first of its tasks was dropping off the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon, Titan. The probe was made by the European Space Agency and hitched a ride on Cassini. As the probe descended on Titan, it provided all sorts of information and photos like these. By peering through the moon's thick atmosphere, the mission helped us get a clearer view of the moon and discover that it has a lot of similarities to Earth, like mountains, lakes and rivers.
Cassini taught us a lot about Saturn's other moons, too, like Enceladus. The big discovery here was evidence of liquid water which scientists believe is the key to life. From information provided by Cassini, scientists discovered large, icy plumes erupting from the moon's surface. From what they figured, the eruptions come from pockets of liquid water below the moon's surface. Cassini also discovered new rings around Saturn and a long ridge going around the middle of Saturn's' moon, Lapetus.
By 2008, Cassini's main mission was complete. But with plenty of fuel left in its tank, NASA decided to carry on with Cassini for as long as it could. During this time, Cassini witnessed the biggest storm we've ever seen on the surface of Saturn. Just look at it, the storm was nearly 9,000 miles from north to south. Cassini even managed to take a picture of Earth all the way from Saturn. And it wasn't just photos that Cassini provided us with. With its other scientific instruments, this spacecraft sniffed out information on what kind of gasses where in the area, and learned about the different magnetic fields around the planet and moons.
But as Cassini's fuel supply dwindled, NASA decided it was time to plan the end of its mission. And they decided Cassini was going to take on one of its most dangerous tasks on the way out. Cassini made 22 close flybys of Saturn in the space between the planet and its rings. It was a completely unexplored area, and on the very last flight, Cassini was sent into Saturn along its final mission Cassini used all of its strength to keep its antenna pointed back at the Earth, all the way transmitting as much information about the planet as it could. Eventually, though, Saturn's atmosphere consumed Cassini and burned the spacecraft into oblivion.
It was a spectacular finale for the spacecraft and the scientists behind it, who spent 20 years exploring Saturn. While Cassini answered a lot of questions for us about Saturn, it also brought about so many more, and they might not be answered until the next mission to Saturn. Here's hoping for a Cassini II!
Instructional Links
Website: NASA, Cassini, the Grand Finale | Info on the mission with spectacular images
Website Article: DK Find Out!, Saturn | Info with interactive diagram
Website Article: Cleveland.com, Nasa Glenn Helped Launch Cassini Mission