Cassini - is it just me who's excited?

[smich]

Hi everyone,

It's been at least 3 years since I checked in here (It's still in my favourites, but that's a long list now!).

Fantastic to see my old Cassini thread still up and running

And with recent pics like the Encedalus/Tethys image appearing, I fully expect to see activity here for a year or two yet!

Hello to you all - will check in more frequently in future!

Steve M

[Orstio]

Welcome back Steve!  This topic has defintely been running for a long time.  Great to see so much interest in Saturn and its moons. 

[Astronuc]

Welcome back Steve!  Hopefully you'll be adding to this thread.

What amazing discoveries on Saturn and its moons!

Please pop in more often.

I just passed my 3rd anniversary at ES about 7 weeks ago.

[smich]

Hi, yes it's been a terrifically successful mission - underrated if you ask me.

(Even the Mars Rovers are forgotten, despite outliving themselves by 3 years)

Interesting week or so coming up. The next Titan flyby looks to determine if the Caspian Sea really is liquid - something I've doubted. I've always wondered if these dark patches aren't "black ice" for want of a better term. A substance that may once have been liquid, but froze a long time ago...

We'll see!

Steve M

[Astronuc]

An absolutely stunning image of Saturn. 

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=2507

[smich]

 



Steve M

[Astronuc]

Another stunning image - http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=2314

Jul. 19, 2007: Titan flyby (T34) -- the RSS bistatic observation (bouncing a signal off the surface and returning it to Earth) is just to the west of the Huygens landing site and is excellently placed with respect to the Brewster angle (the perfect angle for a bistatic experiment). The optical remote sensing instruments have the opportunity near closest approach for high resolution imaging of the surface. This is the last inbound (to Saturn) Titan flyby of the prime mission.

Next month

Aug. 21, 2007 (plus and minus 15 days): RSS will conduct a solar conjunction experiment where they monitor the long wavelength radio waves coming from the spacecraft as it passes behind the Sun.

Aug. 30, 2007: Rhea flyby -- the second of two close flybys of the icy moon Rhea, at a distance of about 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles). This flyby will focus on imaging and spectroscopic measurements of the craters and cracks of Saturn's second largest moon. RADAR will measure Rhea's radar reflectivity and constrain the bulk density of the top decimeter (four inches) of the surface.

Aug. 31, 2007: Titan flyby (T35) -- another opportunity for the optical remote sensing instruments to have the time near closest approach for high resolution imaging of the surface, in particular images of the Huygens Landing site. VIMS looks at a star (Alpha Sco) as it slips behind Titan's atmosphere.

[Astronuc]

WOW - it's been 10 years!
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassinif-20071011.html
Happy Anniversary to Cassini and team!
 
View From Iapetus
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia08387.html
Rhea Shadowing Saturn
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia08392.html

[Astronuc]

Cassini completed its close flyby of Enceladus on March 12.  Raw, or unprocessed, images from the flyby are now available.
 
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/events/titan20080312/index.cfm
 

Enceladus Plume Neutral Mass Spectrum
March 26, 2008
   
The lower panel is a mass spectrum that shows the chemical constituents sampled in Enceladus' plume by Cassini's Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer during its fly-through of the plume on Mar. 12, 2008. Shown are the amounts, in atomic mass per elementary charge (Daltons [Da]), of water vapor, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, simple organics and complex organics identified in the plume.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=3015

[SHJ]

Excellent Astronuc.

And no, it's not just you who's excited.