NASA to Preview ‘Grand Finale’ of Cassini Saturn Mission

NASA will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, April 4, at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, to preview the beginning of Cassini’s final mission segment, known as the Grand Finale, which begins in late April. The briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since June 2004, studying the planet, its rings and its moons. A final close flyby of Saturn’s moon Titan on April 22 will reshape the Cassini spacecraft’s orbit so that it begins its final series of 22 weekly dives through the unexplored gap between the planet and its rings. The first of these dives is planned for April 26. Following these closer-than-ever encounters with the giant planet, Cassini will make a mission-ending plunge into Saturn’s upper atmosphere on Sept. 15.

 

Duncan Idaho

Duncan is a science and technology reporter for CDN and serves as the lead geek correspondent. Follow him if you like rockets, mobile tech, video games or ... just about anything nerdy.

Share
Published by
Duncan Idaho

Recent Posts

Trump Threatens To Use Insurrection Act If Minnesota Leaders Don’t Rein In Agitators 

President Donald Trump threatened to take matters into his own hands if Minnesota Democrats don’t…

6 hours ago

A Reliable Method to Compare Prices of Toilet Paper

Over the years, I've received thousands of money-saving tips from readers — many of which…

6 hours ago

Tricia McLaughlin Defends ICE’s Visible Presence

There is still chaos surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, and nowhere is the anger…

6 hours ago