September 15, 2017

Talk about going out with a bang. NASA’s spacecraft Cassini, which patrolled and sent information about Saturn’s rings back to earth for 13 years, burned up in Saturn’s atmosphere early this morning. The vaporization of the craft took less than a minute.

Cassini transformed our earthly understanding of Saturn’s part of the solar system. Over her 20-year service, the spacecraft sent back back photos of moons never before seen from close range, and finding evidence of an ocean beneath the moon Enceladus’ icy surface. Thank you for your service, Cassini.

Categorized in: Space