Job Well Done
From 1671 to 1684 an Italian astronomer living in France named Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovered four moons of planet Saturn.
A quarter of a century earlier Dutch mathematician and astronomer named Christiaan Huygens had discovered Titan, Saturn largest moon as well as gave explanation for the rings of Saturn.
Three centuries later in 1997 a spaceprobe was launched to honour these two great scientists for their contribution in advancement of human knowledge of his universe.
This mission came to be known as the Huygens - Cassini mission. It is a collaboration between US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA) and Italian Space Agency (ASI) and funded to the tune of USD 4 billions.
Launched from Cape Canaveral in 1997, the probe entered Saturn's atmosphere in 2004. The Huygens module separated from the Cassini in the same year and proceeded to land on Titan, Saturn largest moon.
The cassini module continued to orbit Saturn and for thirteen years, it has been sending streams of data back to earth.
With the information from cassini, scientists have been able to study Saturn's seasons, the effects of Saturn's immense gravitational forces and perhaps the most promising of all discoveries: that Enceladus, one of Saturn moons may have some form of life or may support life after discovery of a massive ocean of water plus carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons.
Thirteen years later, this mission has come to a spectacular end with Cassini plunging into the toxic Saturn atmosphere. This will be the end of its journey after accomplishing what it set out to do.
Today September 15th was the end of this human ingenuity that was for the first time able to land a probe on a distant object like Titan as well as gather data that will be useful to human beings for decades to come.
Wherever Giovanni Domenico Cassini and Christaan Huygens are, they must be smiling.
A quarter of a century earlier Dutch mathematician and astronomer named Christiaan Huygens had discovered Titan, Saturn largest moon as well as gave explanation for the rings of Saturn.
Three centuries later in 1997 a spaceprobe was launched to honour these two great scientists for their contribution in advancement of human knowledge of his universe.
This mission came to be known as the Huygens - Cassini mission. It is a collaboration between US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA) and Italian Space Agency (ASI) and funded to the tune of USD 4 billions.
Launched from Cape Canaveral in 1997, the probe entered Saturn's atmosphere in 2004. The Huygens module separated from the Cassini in the same year and proceeded to land on Titan, Saturn largest moon.
The cassini module continued to orbit Saturn and for thirteen years, it has been sending streams of data back to earth.
With the information from cassini, scientists have been able to study Saturn's seasons, the effects of Saturn's immense gravitational forces and perhaps the most promising of all discoveries: that Enceladus, one of Saturn moons may have some form of life or may support life after discovery of a massive ocean of water plus carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons.
Thirteen years later, this mission has come to a spectacular end with Cassini plunging into the toxic Saturn atmosphere. This will be the end of its journey after accomplishing what it set out to do.
Today September 15th was the end of this human ingenuity that was for the first time able to land a probe on a distant object like Titan as well as gather data that will be useful to human beings for decades to come.
Wherever Giovanni Domenico Cassini and Christaan Huygens are, they must be smiling.
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