The probe Cassini has sent back incredible images of Saturn – Moskovsky Komsomolets

the Mission, which started nineteen years ago, is nearing completion

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Automatic interplanetary station “Cassini” passed to the last phase of its mission, “the Final Opera”. At this stage, the probe need twenty times to fly through the rings of a gas giant, and then to finish your way, “drowning” in Saturn. Meanwhile, the spacecraft sends to Earth quite interesting footage made by him during his journey.

the jet propulsion Laboratory of the NASA presented images, which you can see the hexagonal vortex raging in the upper atmosphere above the North pole of the planet. Soon the Earth will receive the photos taken by the probe during its journey through the rings of Saturn.

Published images were made on 2 and 3 December. As reported by experts, some of the frames that will be received in the coming weeks, will allow you to see the outer rings of Saturn and some of the relatively small size of the satellites of this planet was closer than ever. Next time the space station “dives” into the rings 11 December, and on 17 September of the next year the planned end of the mission, which, thus, will last twenty years without one month.

the Probe “Cassini” was launched on 15 October 1997. To disperse, he used the gravitational field of the three planets in 1998 and 1999 he flew near Venus, and then again passed by the Earth, and in the winter of 2000 had passed the outskirts of Jupiter. June 30, 2004, the station reached Saturn and was the first natural satellite of this planet, and six months later, the probe was first down at the Titan. Originally the mission was scheduled to end in 2008, but later it was extended twice. Title “finale of the Opera” (Garand Finale) was selected by a vote conducted among the visitors of the website of the American space Agency NASA.