In an interesting coincidence, today marks the 1 year anniversary of Cassini’s Grand Finale – its final plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn, the planet it spent its life studying. It was one hell of an event – after being in space for nearly 20 years (originally launched in 1997 on a Titan IV) and […]
40 years ago, the twin Voyager 1 and 2 space probes were just starting on their historic journeys to the outer solar system. Voyager 1 destined to visit Saturn and Jupiter, Voyager 2 destined to not only study those planets, but also to be the first, and still only probe to fly by Uranus and […]
On October 15th, 1997, a Titan IV/B lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft into space for its eventual amazing mission to study the planet Saturn. This was one of the first launches of the Titan IV/B and the first flight of that particular Titan variation […]
We’re reaching the last moments of the Cassini mission. September 14th, 2017 marks the last full day of Cassini operations. Today, it will take it’s final photos, send the last bit of recorded data, prepare for “real time” data transmission, and then, about 29 hours from when I write this article, it will finally make […]
The Cassini Spacecraft has just 6 days left of it’s mission around Saturn. Really 5 considering it will be early morning on the 15th when it begins its final dive into the planet. This video highlights just a fraction of the amazing images Cassini has taken over the past 13 years around Saturn, as well […]
As of the writing of this article, the Cassini mission around Saturn has 9 days 14 hours or so remaining. On September 15th, 2017, the probe will descend into the atmosphere of Saturn, burning up as it plummets into the gaseous mass of the plant it has spent over a decade studying. (Sure, it’s a […]
40 years ago today, on September 5th, 1977, Voyager 1 was launched from Launch Complex 41 on the final Titan III-E booster to fly. Voyager 1 was launched after Voyager 2, on a trajectory which put it ahead in its encounters of Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 1 would later begin flying up and away from […]
This video from JPL and NASA shows what the “sound” of the space below the rings of Saturn is like – more correctly, what the particle and magnetic sensors on the craft detect, indicating the vastly different environments outside and inside the ring zones around the gas giant. Again, this is what happens when you […]
I’ve been delayed on sharing this, but hey, better late than never. This video clip from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, as you may have seen it listed before) and shows the path Cassini took over Saturn during the first dive of the Grand Final. The clip speaks for itself, really, showing the cloud tops […]
Last night Cassini made it’s first plunge into the space between Saturn and its rings. Following several hours out of contact with Earth (due to the planet blocking signals), the probe emerged unscathed and provided us closer than ever views of the upper atmosphere of the ringed gas giant! The gap between Saturn and its […]
On September 15th, 2017, NASA’s Cassini mission will come to an end after 13 years studying Saturn and just shy of 20 years in space. Known as the “Grand Finale,” the end of life for the Cassini probe will be quite the dramatic event. On April 26th, 2017, Cassini will make a final orbital change […]
On October 27th, 1961, the first Saturn booster, SA-1 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on a 15 minute sub-orbital flight to test the booster. This first flight beget a series of 10 Saturn 1 test flights, 9 Saturn 1B flights, and 13 Saturn V flights. Saturn 1 was a […]
48 Years ago today, Apollo 7 launched on the first manned flight of the Apollo Program, and the first manned flight on a Saturn 1B rocket. This mission, a planned 2 week stay in orbit testing the Apollo Command / Service Module system with a crew, was the mission originally planned for Apollo 1. 18 […]
Launched in 1977, the twin Voyager 1 and 2 probes were sent out on missions to observe Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as their moons, rings, and anything else they could discover on their journeys out of the solar system. Voyager 1 was sent on a more specialized mission for only Jupiter and […]