check NASA Saturn Mission Prepares for 'Ring-Grazing Orbits'

6 years 7 months ago #9712 by ??

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6 years 7 months ago #9713 by ??
Grand Finale Orbit #21

Orbit 291 - August 30 - September 5

Cassini has just two orbits of Saturn remaining before the mission ends.

During this orbit, Cassini’s imaging cameras, the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), observes haze in Titan’s atmosphere, and the spacecraft’s Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) and Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) instruments observe Saturn’s sunlit north polar auroral region.

The VIMS instrument and Cassini’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) work together to study Saturn’s atmosphere.

This is also the fourth of five orbits in which Cassini’s elliptical orbit carries it so low that the spacecraft passes briefly through Saturn’s atmosphere. Cassini’s reaction control thrusters are at the ready to correct the spacecraft’s orientation in case Saturn’s atmosphere pushes on the spacecraft hard enough to cause any rotation.

During the period in which the spacecraft is nearest Saturn, Cassini’s Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) performs its third session directly sampling of Saturn’s upper atmosphere. The instrument measures densities of different species of molecular hydrogen, helium and a variety of ions in the immediate vicinity of the spacecraft.



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6 years 6 months ago #9732 by ??
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6 years 6 months ago #9844 by ??

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