Tomorrow, Friday September 15, 2017, the Cassini orbiter comes to the end of its mission and will be driven into the atmosphere of Saturn.
To celebrate, The Ringer asked members of the Cassini science team to pick an image that they considered the most personally or scientifically significant. Below are my favorites of those images.
A false-color image of Saturn’s rings made from uncalibrated ultraviolet data, created and selected by Joshua Colwell, UVIS co-investigator:
The colors are incredible—the red is a real stand-out.
Titan and Epimetheus, selected by Morgan Cable, Project Science and system engineering assistant:
The size differences of Saturn’s moons are amazing. Moreover, this photo almost looks like it’s framed by a professional photographer when, in fact, it’s from outer space. Love it.
Enceladus’s plumes, selected by Molly Bittner, systems engineer, Cassini Spacecraft Operations:
Jets of water bursting from a subsurface ocean. On an icy moon. In Saturn’s orbit. And NASA got photos of it!
Check out my previous post (with more photos), or follow the grand finale milestones, read the mission-end FAQs, browse graphics, documents, videos in a dedicated grand finale gallery, or read Cassini on Twitter.
Images courtesy of NASA via The Ringer.
Out There is an occasional feature highlighting intriguing art, spaces, places, phenomena, flora, and fauna.
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