Space Station “Cassini” sent to Earth last image of Saturn – Dione. Mission Space Station is completed in 2017, according to NASA.
The unit flew 500 km from the moon’s surface dotted with craters. Over 11 years in orbit of the planet it was the fifth rapprochement with Dione.
“Cassini” holds a series of recent works of its space program, before the 2017 collapse, entered the atmosphere of Saturn.
“Cassini” passed another batch of Croesus. It’s very exciting to see the photographs of the surface of Dione and realize that this distant world, we will not see for a long time “, – said the head of the group visualization Carolyn Porco.
Porco called rapprochement with Dione,” the beginning of a long goodbye. ”
The closest station is approaching the moons of Saturn at a distance of one hundred kilometers in December 2011.
The diameter of the satellite -1122 kilometers, compared with the diameter of the moon is 3475 km.
The surface of Dione is composed of ice and stone rocks in the inner layers.
In the atmosphere of the satellite were discovered oxygen ions.
The following year, “Cassini” will be released into a higher orbit, passing through the rings Saturn.
In 2017, when the depleted supply of fuel, the station will be sent into the atmosphere of Saturn. While reducing the unit will overheat, begins to melt and eventually destroyed by strong pressure.
The mission leaders decided to complete it in a similar way to the wreckage of the station were not included in the future on other moons of Saturn – Enceladus and Titan.
Scientists do not exclude the possibility of life on these moons, and they would not want to prevent the contamination from microbes from Earth, as it is fantastically may sound this version.
In the coming months, “Cassini” overflew near Enceladus.
The following year, with Jupiter will approach the space station, “Juno”, and in 2030-ies to leave the space station JUICE European Space Agency.
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