SPACE: The FINAL FRONTIER. These are the TEN-YEAR images of star probe Cassini NASA is chuffed to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the splendid Cassini spacecraft's arrival in orbit around mighty Saturn, the ringed gas colossus of the outer solar system. Cassini left Earth on October 15th, 1997 and visited Jupiter in 2000. On July 1st, 2004, it surrendered to Saturn's gravity. Cassini image of …
+1, but if you recall, you scoop fuel from the Sun (or similar fine stellar object), not from gas giants. For those for whom the allusion brings back fond memories, see http://www.oolite.org/
I'd like to see Cassini incorporated into one of Saturn's rings, orbiting Saturn among the boulders in ring. Hopefully we'd be able to get several decent pics of boulders before one accidentally bumps Cassini into smaller ex-Cassini bits.
I don't know if this idea is feasible, perhaps the delta-v required to match speed & altitude with the ring would need too much fuel, nevertheless I think it would be cool to do if it can be done.
I like this. If NASA could put Cassini in, say, the A ring, as close to the Cassini Division as possible, we could get some pretty spectacular shots before the probe's end of life.
And I'm sure the spectacular shots could be justified as a scientific mission.
Next we need some nice portable Fusion Reactor and then see what we can do next.
Amazing what we have achieved with practically only fireworks and Electronics. OK, Ion Drives, some amazing Mathematics, materials science and Mechanical Engineering.
A Fusion reactor power source would really jazz up our ion drives.
The final mission has already been decided and is known as "Grand Finale". The orbiter is to be manoeuvred into a polar (vertical) orbit such that the closest approach is between the rings and the planet which will give some fantastic photos of the planet. This culminates after several such orbits with orbiter falling into Saturn's atmosphere.
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