The last image sent by the Cassini spacecraft before its "suicide"
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has just released unprecedented spectacular images sent back by the Cassini spacecraft before it "suicided" itself by crashing into Saturn.
Cassini's journey and the last image it sent back before it 'committed suicide' - Video: NASA. |
These images were taken with Cassini’s wide-angle camera just one day before its historic mission ended. The images were taken from about 394,000 miles (634,081 km) above Saturn’s surface.
According to NASA, this is the closest distance ever that probes have come when exploring planets.
The images were taken with red, green, and blue filters and combined to produce a view closer to natural color. They will continue to be a rich source of information about Saturn for scientists to study.
Scientists hope to complete analyzing these valuable images and data in the coming years.
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| This composite image, created from the final images taken by the Cassini spacecraft, shows where it is about to crash. Photo: NASA |
"This is the final chapter of a great mission, but also a new beginning," NASA scientist Thomas Zurbuchen said shortly after Cassini completed its mission.
Cassini's Discovery of Oceans on Titan and Enceladus(two moons of Saturn - PV)changed everything, changed our perspective in the search for potential life beyond Earth."
The Cassini spacecraft is NASA's Saturn exploration project. It was launched in 1997 and began approaching Saturn in 2004.
A $3.3 billion spacecraft, Cassini carries a mission that no other spacecraft has done: explore the rings and interior of Saturn - the sixth planet from the Sun in the Solar System, and the second largest in the system after Jupiter.
