Cassini's last year at Saturn

[Streetwind]

http://spacenews.com/nasa-looks-ahead-to-future-saturn-missions-as-cassini-nears-its-end/

[NSEP]

I know this might be a stupid question but does Cassini take pictures even at its last moments? Does that take up to much power?

Sorry.

[ThreePounds]

2 minutes ago, NSEP said:

I know this might be a stupid question but does Cassini take pictures even at its last moments? Does that take up to much power?

Sorry.

Unfortuntaly not. Bandwidth is the limiting factor. They want the spacecraft to transmit as much useful information as possible during it's final minutes so unfortunately, there will be no pictures. They are just too large in terms of data size compared to the measurements of more important instruments like the INMS (The Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer). Cassini's transmitters are really feeble due to their age (it's 80's tech), power constraints and overall spacecraft design - it was never built to transmit lots of data quickly as that wasn't part of the initial space craft design requirements.

[sevenperforce]

2 hours ago, Three_Pounds said:

Unfortuntaly not. Bandwidth is the limiting factor. They want the spacecraft to transmit as much useful information as possible during it's final minutes so unfortunately, there will be no pictures. They are just too large in terms of data size compared to the measurements of more important instruments like the INMS (The Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer). Cassini's transmitters are really feeble due to their age (it's 80's tech), power constraints and overall spacecraft design - it was never built to transmit lots of data quickly as that wasn't part of the initial space craft design requirements.

Any estimate on the altitude of the last picture it will take?

[ThreePounds]

15 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

Any estimate on the altitude of the last picture it will take?

Unfortunately, Cassini is taking it's last images right now. According to Dr. Linda Spilker from JPL they will go up tonight at 8pm (Pacific) on the raw image site. You can hear her talk about the vistas Cassini will be focusing on in this press conference that happened yesterday:

 

[Grand Ship Builder]

Since Cassini has only a few hours left, i've decided to make a discussion thread in it's honor. 

If not for the whole "contamination" thing, maybe, just maybe, Cassini would live a little longer.

 

So, press "F" to pay respects.

 

F.

[monstah]

F

 

[Vanamonde]

Overlapping threads have been merged. 

[purpleivan]

D

I mean... F

[ThreePounds]

24 minutes ago, Grand Ship Builder said:

If not for the whole "contamination" thing, maybe, just maybe, Cassini would live a little longer.

The main reason they've chosen to do the grand finale is the fact it's running out of propellant. While Titan is the main source of Energy to get Cassini into all of these interesting orbits, a little bit of fuel is needed for course corrections and attitude control. Without it, Cassini couldn't point it's instruments and antenna and no useful science can be done.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Three_Pounds

[Grand Ship Builder]

8 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

Overlapping threads have been merged. 

TIL that on the KSP forum, "merging" means deleting a post, putting all posts that were in the post inside another post, and done.

 

 

Post post post post post.

[KAL 9000]

37 minutes ago, Three_Pounds said:

The main reason they've chosen to do the grand finale is the fact it's running out of propellant. While Titan is the main source of Energy to get Cassini into all of these interesting orbits, a little bit of fuel is needed for course corrections and attitude control. Without it, Cassini couldn't point it's instruments and antenna and no useful science can be done.

What about using the reaction wheels for pointing? 

Also: F 

Imagine if they could get enough bandwidth to send a final picture during Saturn reentry... The picture would be awesome.

[Canopus]

25 minutes ago, KAL 9000 said:

What about using the reaction wheels for pointing? 

The Problem with reaction wheels is that they get saturated (they can't turn any faster) and you will eventually need the thrusters to allow them to slow down again.

[tater]

Final data will be data from other instruments, imagery at that point would be wasted, and would use more bandwidth than getting useful data.

[ProtoJeb21]

Plz no . Cassini is a mission I've grown up with. Throughout my entire life, Cassini was traveling through space and surveying the Saturn system. Seeing it go is quite depressing. 

[cubinator]

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/saturn-tour/where-is-cassini-now/

The closest thing to watching it up close. The app is also pretty cool.

Edited September 15, 2017 by cubinator

[Ultimate Steve]

*sniff*

T-10 hours.

[StupidAndy]

less then 12 hours now

[SaturnianBlue]

I don't remember a time when Cassini wasn't at Saturn—that's how long it has been around. I suppose Cassini will burn up in the great Saturnian Blue, so to speak...

[Ultimate Steve]

On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 9:01 PM, iplayksp said:

Can we all just get a salute or something for cassini 

I present to you my tribute to the Cassini Huygens mission - "Salute."

Spoiler

BEFORE WATCHING - I really felt like I needed to do something for Cassini, no matter how bad it turned out. I tried to make a song thingy with a Cassini montage. I didn't expect it to turn out well (mostly because I can't sing very well in my opinion) but it actually turned out better than I was expecting.

 

 

 

T-5.5 hours. *SALUTES*

 

[KingPhantom]

F

 

farewell cassini. thx for all the images in the last 20years!

 

2h 50mins to go!

[Mukita12]

F 

 

THX Cassini for helping me in the class

 

 

2h (IDK what min right now) TO GO

Edited September 15, 2017 by Mukita12

[rudi1291]

Cassini-Huygens was the mission that got me interested in spaceflight & astronomy. So, thanks for that!

[tater]

Bye, Cassini, great job!

[sevenperforce]

Still an hour out but Where's Cassini Now is already speaking of the mission end in past tense.