【】

There is poetry in the fact that when the Cassini spacecraft burns up in Saturn's atmosphere on Friday, ending its mission, the bus-sized spacecraft will become a part of the planet it has admired from close range for 13 years.
But as with all things involving spaceflight, the reason for Cassini's collision course with Saturn is nothing if not practical.
SEE ALSO:How Cassini quietly transformed our understanding of the solar systemCassini is quickly running out of rocket fuel, and if left to its own devices, the orbiter would wander around the Saturn system uncontrolled, eventually crashing into whatever body that's unlucky enough to be in its way.
This means that the probe could smash into one of the planet's potentially habitable moons. And that won't work for the people who control it back on Earth.
Via GiphyInstead of allowing Cassini to crash where it may, scientists have programmed the spacecraft to plunge into Saturn's atmosphere all in the name of protecting the planet's natural satellites.
"Cassini is ending its 13-year tour of the Saturn system with an intentional plunge into the planet to ensure Saturn's moons -- in particular Enceladus, with its subsurface ocean and signs of hydrothermal activity -- remain pristine for future exploration," NASA said in a statement.
On Earth, there's life basically anywhere there's water, so NASA is particularly protective of other worlds that may have water on them or within them.
In other words, NASA wants to keep Enceladus, Titan, and other moons in the Saturn system untouched because who knows what a crash-landing from a human-made probe could do to any native alien life that might be budding there.
And of course, we wouldn't know much of anything about Enceladus and Titan without Cassini's dogged work exploring Saturn and its many moons.
But beyond concerns about interrupting the lives of microbes, NASA and other space agencies try to take a "leave no trace" approach to space exploration when they can, opting for controlled crashes into planetary bodies when they have to park a spacecraft somewhere after a (hopefully) long mission.
Cassini has been exploring Saturn since 2004 when it arrived at the ringed planet. The mission launched in 1997, and has essentially revolutionized our understanding of how Saturn and its complex system of 53 official moons works.
The spacecraft is now on course to crash into Saturn Friday, when mission managers will lose touch with the spacecraft at about 7:55 a.m. ET.
Featured Video For You
NASA has discovered a water world in our solar system capable of sustaining life
相关文章
Pole vaulter claims his penis is not to blame
Following the cringeworthy moment in which pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita's penis grazed the bar and he f2025-07-19How a handful of conspiracists pushed faux Clinton health concerns into the mainstream
The frenzy of concern over Hillary Clinton's health climbed to new heights on Sunday after video sho2025-07-19Amazon adds food delivery in London
Amazon took another step this week to capitalize on the delivery wars.。 The e-commerce giant on Wedn2025-07-19Girl instantly regrets putting on that charcoal face peel
Beauty is pain, everyone. 。Case in point: Twitter user Cachet Raynor tried out a charcoal face peel m2025-07-19Despite IOC ban, Rio crowds get their political messages across
The Olympics aren't meant to be a place for political expression -- the International Olympic Commit2025-07-19Mets player gets pumped at plate with 'Friends' theme
Could Wilmer Flores 。 be。any more of a 。 Friends。fan?The New York Mets third baseman walked up to the2025-07-19
最新评论