How was the Cassini spacecraft powered?
Cassini’s electrical power source — Radio- isotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) — have provided electrical power for some of the U.S. space program’s greatest suc- cesses, including the Apollo lunar landings and the Viking landers that searched for life on Mars.
What engine did Cassini use?
Aerojet Rocketdyne provided propulsion for all aspects of the Cassini mission, which began its 2.2 billion-mile journey to Saturn in October 1997. The company provided the LR87 rocket engine that helped power the first stage of the Titan IV launch vehicle.
Why did Cassini burn up?
The predicted altitude for loss of signal was approximately 1,500 km (930 mi) above Saturn’s cloud tops, when the spacecraft began to tumble and burn up like a meteor.
Was Cassini a nuclear?
Batteries and chemical fuel cells also wouldn’t have kept the probe going 20 years, let alone a few months. So instead, NASA went nuclear — as it has done with previous space probes like the Voyagers — and built Cassini around a rare and radioactive isotope called plutonium-238.
Was Cassini a solar panel?
Cassini and Its Mission Cassini, along with its attached probe, Huygens, was designed to explore the planet Saturn and its many moons. The great distance of Saturn from the Sun is a principal reason why RTGs were chosen as Cassini’s power source instead of a solar array.
What did the Cassini mission discover?
Cassini’s long mission enabled us to observe weather and seasonal changes on another planet. Cassini revealed Saturn’s moons to be unique worlds with their own stories to tell. Cassini showed us the complexity of Saturn’s rings and the dramatic processes operating within them.
Is Cassini still in space?
Cassini Spacecraft Ends Its Historic Exploration of Saturn NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made its final approach to Saturn and dove into the planet’s atmosphere on Friday, Sept. 15, 2017.
What was the Cassini mission and what did it accomplish?