There's no turning back: Friday it careens through the
NASA is hoping for scientific dividends up until the end. Every tidbit of data radioed back from Cassini will help astronomers better understand the entire Saturnian system—rings, moons and all.
The only spacecraft ever to orbit Saturn, Cassini spent the past five months exploring the uncharted territory between the gaseous planet and its dazzling rings. It's darted 22 times between that gap, sending back ever more wondrous photos.
On Monday, Cassini flew past jumbo moon Titan one last time for a gravity assist— a final kiss goodbye, as NASA calls it, nudging the spacecraft into a deliberate, no-way-out path.
During its final plunge early Friday morning, Cassini will keep sampling Saturn's atmosphere and beaming back data, until the spacecraft loses control and its antenna no longer points toward Earth. Descending at a scorching 76,000 mph (122,000 kph), Cassini will melt and then vaporize. It should be all over in a minute.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-nasa-saturn-orbiting-cassini-spacecraft-fiery.html#jCp
