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How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

nytimes.com

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Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#11

Post by Figs »

kkylin wrote: post #5
joshlemer wrote: post #2

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the point in sending the Cassini probe to burn up in Saturn's atmosphere? Are there no more useful observations it can make, and if there isn't right now, can it not just be parked in orbit around Saturn until later? I mean, just the launch vehicle itself cost $422 million according to Wikipedia.

The article didn't say, but off-hand I would guess it's for the same reason they crashed Galileo into Jupiter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft) ), namely to avoid any possibility of contaminating one of the moons (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Titan ) with life (e.g., bacteria) from Earth.

That seems like a really poor reason for doing it seeing as Cassini carried Huygens with it -- which already landed on Titan over 10 years ago.

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#12

Post by myowncrapulence »

kkylin wrote: post #5
joshlemer wrote: post #2

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the point in sending the Cassini probe to burn up in Saturn's atmosphere? Are there no more useful observations it can make, and if there isn't right now, can it not just be parked in orbit around Saturn until later? I mean, just the launch vehicle itself cost $422 million according to Wikipedia.

The article didn't say, but off-hand I would guess it's for the same reason they crashed Galileo into Jupiter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft) ), namely to avoid any possibility of contaminating one of the moons (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Titan ) with life (e.g., bacteria) from Earth.

Are we not actively trying to terraform Mars? Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#13

Post by noelwelsh »

myowncrapulence wrote: post #12
kkylin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article didn't say, but off-hand I would guess it's for the same reason they crashed Galileo into Jupiter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft) ), namely to avoid any possibility of contaminating one of the moons (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Titan ) with life (e.g., bacteria) from Earth.

Are we not actively trying to terraform Mars? Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?

The days of colonialism, when Europeans showed up on foreign shores, killed the natives, and claimed the land as their own, are over.

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#14

Post by [deleted] »

myowncrapulence wrote: post #12
kkylin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article didn't say, but off-hand I would guess it's for the same reason they crashed Galileo into Jupiter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft) ), namely to avoid any possibility of contaminating one of the moons (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Titan ) with life (e.g., bacteria) from Earth.

Are we not actively trying to terraform Mars? Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?

[deleted]

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#15

Post by Thane »

noelwelsh wrote: post #13
myowncrapulence wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we not actively trying to terraform Mars? Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?

The days of colonialism, when Europeans showed up on foreign shores, killed the natives, and claimed the land as their own, are over.

*barfs

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#16

Post by [deleted] »

myowncrapulence wrote: post #12
kkylin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article didn't say, but off-hand I would guess it's for the same reason they crashed Galileo into Jupiter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft) ), namely to avoid any possibility of contaminating one of the moons (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Titan ) with life (e.g., bacteria) from Earth.

Are we not actively trying to terraform Mars? Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?

[deleted]

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#17

Post by raverbashing »

myowncrapulence wrote: post #12
kkylin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article didn't say, but off-hand I would guess it's for the same reason they crashed Galileo into Jupiter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft) ), namely to avoid any possibility of contaminating one of the moons (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Titan ) with life (e.g., bacteria) from Earth.

Are we not actively trying to terraform Mars? Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?

> Are we not actively trying to terraform Mars?

No

> Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?

Because you'll not be sure if eventual life that you found there comes from Earth equipment or was there in the first place

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#18

Post by cbanek »

therein wrote: post #7
rietta wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks like the principle "States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies." Presumably crashing into a gas giant is considered less harmful than polluting orbit. Source: http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/intr...

How is having a vehicle that is hibernating and can be contacted with considered polluting the orbit? It's not like it is debris. I would see this as in fact the opposite, I would see it as the first step to colonization. Having autonomous outposts all around the solar system, orbiting various celestial bodies. Build a meshnet with them.

One thing to remember is that any probe past Mars is almost certainly going to use an RTG over solar panels. This means that you will always have an exponentially decaying power supply (wattage goes down over time if you use it or not). This is how voyager was powered, and because of the power drain, they had to turn off more instruments as time goes on.

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#19

Post by noselasd »

joshlemer wrote: post #2

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the point in sending the Cassini probe to burn up in Saturn's atmosphere? Are there no more useful observations it can make, and if there isn't right now, can it not just be parked in orbit around Saturn until later? I mean, just the launch vehicle itself cost $422 million according to Wikipedia.

Cassini have used up almost all its fuel, so it cannot be controlled for much longer.

Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn

#20

Post by iampherocity »

kkylin wrote: post #5
joshlemer wrote: post #2

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the point in sending the Cassini probe to burn up in Saturn's atmosphere? Are there no more useful observations it can make, and if there isn't right now, can it not just be parked in orbit around Saturn until later? I mean, just the launch vehicle itself cost $422 million according to Wikipedia.

The article didn't say, but off-hand I would guess it's for the same reason they crashed Galileo into Jupiter ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft) ), namely to avoid any possibility of contaminating one of the moons (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Titan ) with life (e.g., bacteria) from Earth.

I don't understand why we're doing this. They will eventually be contaminated in the next 500 years and that's not long evolutionarily speaking. As tech becomes cheaper and the third world starts breaking into the "modern era", we'll have more failed satellites embedded in the sides of every moon in the solar system. And NASA legitimately struggles to make these devoid of life. An exuberant little nation punching a little above its weight category certainly won't.
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