How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
1–10 of 30 posts
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#2Pardon 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.
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#3Pardon 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.
Probably some sort of space protection treaty once they are done funding ground operations. I too am dismayed about crashing perfectly functioning science vehicles.
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#4Pardon 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.
Probably some sort of space protection treaty once they are done funding ground operations. I too am dismayed about crashing perfectly functioning science vehicles.
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...
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#5Pardon 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.
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#6Pardon 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.
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably some sort of space protection treaty once they are done funding ground operations. I too am dismayed about crashing perfectly functioning science vehicles.
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.
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#8If you can't read: https://www.google.no/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...
(skip subscription by going through Google)
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#9Earlier 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.
It's functional now. After 30 years in hibernation? Who knows. The potential science value of life on another body in our solar system is so great, it's not worth the risk.
The science Cassini is capable of collecting will pale in comparison to whatever we'll have in orbit in 30 years anyway.
Re: How Cassini Will Begin Its Date with Death on Saturn
#10Pardon 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.
This is correct, the probe was too large to sterilize, and they want to avoid any possibility of contaminating Enceladus.
http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-exploration/extrate...