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Thread: Alas, they depart so swiftly

  1. #1

    Default Alas, they depart so swiftly

    Cassini was bright eyed and full of vim when it got to Saturn
    A scant 20 years on the job and it looks like the end is here.



    Is there no viagra in space?

    NASA site for Cassini:

    https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/c...ain/index.html
    Last edited by HopAlongBunny; 04-06-2017 at 22:07.
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  2. #2
    Moderator Moderator Gregoshi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    I'm really looking forward to looking at some of the images from the final couple of months, especially the detail in Saturn's cloud deck.
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  3. #3
    Praefectus Fabrum Senior Member Anime BlackJack Champion, Flash Poker Champion, Word Up Champion, Shape Game Champion, Snake Shooter Champion, Fishwater Challenge Champion, Rocket Racer MX Champion, Jukebox Hero Champion, My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion, Funky Pong Champion, Cutie Quake Champion, Fling The Cow Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Virus Champion, Solitaire Champion, Worm Race Champion, Rope Walker Champion, Penguin Pass Champion, Skate Park Champion, Watch Out Champion, Lawn Pac Champion, Weapons Of Mass Destruction Champion, Skate Boarder Champion, Lane Bowling Champion, Bugz Champion, Makai Grand Prix 2 Champion, White Van Man Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, BlackJack Champion, Stans Ski Jumping Champion, Smaugs Treasure Champion, Sofa Longjump Champion Seamus Fermanagh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    Jeez, it's as bad as raising parents. You spend nearly twenty years training them and then, when you step away for a few years to university, all that training goes down the tube and they revert.
    "The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.” -- Milton Friedman

    "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -- H. L. Mencken

  4. #4

    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    "Reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated!":

    https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/...nale/overview/

    Looks like we are going to get a lot of new data and pictures before the final plunge; including first time look inside the rings :)
    Ja-mata TosaInu

  5. #5
    Praefectus Fabrum Senior Member Anime BlackJack Champion, Flash Poker Champion, Word Up Champion, Shape Game Champion, Snake Shooter Champion, Fishwater Challenge Champion, Rocket Racer MX Champion, Jukebox Hero Champion, My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion, Funky Pong Champion, Cutie Quake Champion, Fling The Cow Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Virus Champion, Solitaire Champion, Worm Race Champion, Rope Walker Champion, Penguin Pass Champion, Skate Park Champion, Watch Out Champion, Lawn Pac Champion, Weapons Of Mass Destruction Champion, Skate Boarder Champion, Lane Bowling Champion, Bugz Champion, Makai Grand Prix 2 Champion, White Van Man Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, BlackJack Champion, Stans Ski Jumping Champion, Smaugs Treasure Champion, Sofa Longjump Champion Seamus Fermanagh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    This mission certainly got its money's worth.
    "The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.” -- Milton Friedman

    "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -- H. L. Mencken

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  6. #6
    Moderator Moderator Gregoshi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    This image of the Earth and Moon through the rings is just amazing. Sure, they are just dots, but when you know what those dots are, it gets awesome.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Cassini Earth thru Rings.jpg 
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  7. #7
    Master of Few Words Senior Member KukriKhan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    An!
    Be well. Do good. Keep in touch.

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  8. #8

    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    Countdown to Grand Finale
    Sept. 15 is going to be the last Hurrah!:

    https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/...latest-status/

    End notes:

    https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/312...ion-of-saturn/

    Gone, but it sounds like they are going to be unpacking the data for years
    Last edited by HopAlongBunny; 09-17-2017 at 14:49.
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  9. #9
    Moderator Moderator Gregoshi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    It is kind of sad that Cassini's last seconds will not be recorded. It would almost be perfect if its last transmission was "My God - it's full of stars!"
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  10. #10
    Praefectus Fabrum Senior Member Anime BlackJack Champion, Flash Poker Champion, Word Up Champion, Shape Game Champion, Snake Shooter Champion, Fishwater Challenge Champion, Rocket Racer MX Champion, Jukebox Hero Champion, My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion, Funky Pong Champion, Cutie Quake Champion, Fling The Cow Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Virus Champion, Solitaire Champion, Worm Race Champion, Rope Walker Champion, Penguin Pass Champion, Skate Park Champion, Watch Out Champion, Lawn Pac Champion, Weapons Of Mass Destruction Champion, Skate Boarder Champion, Lane Bowling Champion, Bugz Champion, Makai Grand Prix 2 Champion, White Van Man Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, BlackJack Champion, Stans Ski Jumping Champion, Smaugs Treasure Champion, Sofa Longjump Champion Seamus Fermanagh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    Thank you Cassini. You have made a mark.

    Next batter!
    "The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.” -- Milton Friedman

    "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -- H. L. Mencken

  11. #11

    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    Quote Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh View Post
    Thank you Cassini. You have made a mark.
    Next batter!
    Batter up!
    We might be preparing for a cruise on Titan
    At around -179C it might be a little brisk for shuffleboard on deck...:

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bo...seas-1.4291964

    Ja-mata TosaInu

  12. #12
    Praefectus Fabrum Senior Member Anime BlackJack Champion, Flash Poker Champion, Word Up Champion, Shape Game Champion, Snake Shooter Champion, Fishwater Challenge Champion, Rocket Racer MX Champion, Jukebox Hero Champion, My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion, Funky Pong Champion, Cutie Quake Champion, Fling The Cow Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Virus Champion, Solitaire Champion, Worm Race Champion, Rope Walker Champion, Penguin Pass Champion, Skate Park Champion, Watch Out Champion, Lawn Pac Champion, Weapons Of Mass Destruction Champion, Skate Boarder Champion, Lane Bowling Champion, Bugz Champion, Makai Grand Prix 2 Champion, White Van Man Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, BlackJack Champion, Stans Ski Jumping Champion, Smaugs Treasure Champion, Sofa Longjump Champion Seamus Fermanagh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    That would be something. Not sure the seas would have that particular look at that temperature though, plus the liquids are, as I recall, rather buried....

    Still, next batter. Probably have to foul off a few before getting one that's worth a good slice.
    "The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.” -- Milton Friedman

    "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -- H. L. Mencken

  13. #13

    Default Re: Alas, they depart so swiftly

    Well it's not a planet survey mission but the successor to the LISA pathfinder mission is about to step up to the plate.

    Lisa completed its mission and was deactivated 2 months ago but she demonstrated the feasibility of space based laser interferometers for gravitational wave observatories.

    https://www.nature.com/news/success-...ission-1.22205

    "The LISA Pathfinder mission, launched in late 2015, beat its precision target by a factor of 1,000" lulz
    "it showed that it could detect motions 100 times smaller than the pico-metre requirement. Since then, the experiment’s performance has improved by another order of magnitude."

    The technology setup involved is pretty crazy.



    the Billion EURO succesor mission was recently greenlit and would consist out of a constellation of three similar spacecraft, arranged in an equilateral triangle with sides 2.5 million km long, flying along an Earth-like heliocentric orbit.

    It's similar to earth based gravitational wave observatories but with, obviously much longer arms, and precision so stunning it would allow us to map the minute business of our local and not so local heavy weights.

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