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Adios, Cassini

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 2:36 pm
by Cody
Go Cassini! Ring-diving (using its large antenna as a shield) - should make for some very pretty pictures.

Re: Go Cassini

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2017 12:24 pm
by Cody
Cassini is back in contact and sending images - twenty-one more dives to go.

Re: Go Cassini

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2017 12:25 pm
by Cody
An early raw image here.

Re: Go Cassini

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 1:49 pm
by Cody
Cassini, having dived through the 'big empty' once, turns for a second go:

Image

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 10:02 am
by Cody
Cassini is now on final approach.

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 12:57 am
by Cody
Some lovely images of Saturn's rings in this IMAX trailer.

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 10:20 am
by Disembodied
Emerging out of the Cassini mission, there's Dragonfly - a proposal from John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory to send a quadcopter probe to Titan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk1zVxwq7O4

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 12:17 pm
by spud42
going to go watch that now but my initial thought is ,"Does Titan have an atmosphere?" cant fly a quad without one....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8-pxkaipcg

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 12:22 pm
by Disembodied
spud42 wrote:
my initial thought is ,"Does Titan have an atmosphere?"
Yes! A big thick atmosphere, mostly nitrogen, a little methane, traces of other gases. Surface pressure is actually a bit higher than Earth's.

You can hear the sound of Titan's winds, as the Huygens probe parachuted to its surface:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36ffV-CI3Mo

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 2:27 pm
by Cody
Low gravity too - similar to the Moon's, I think.

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 2:32 pm
by Disembodied
Cody wrote: Sat Sep 16, 2017 2:27 pm
Low gravity too - similar to the Moon's, I think.
Yes – it should be possible for humans wearing wings to fly there, using muscle power alone.

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 5:56 pm
by Cody
I can see it now - flapping along merrily, through showers of methane rain, hoping it doesn't get too windy!

Re: Adios, Cassini

Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 8:24 pm
by Cody