Twenty years ago today and a billion miles from here, the Cassini spacecraft came to the end of its 7-year interplanetary journey and flawlessly glided into orbit around the planet Saturn. It was a splendid arrival!
I still remember it when Saturn orbit was achieved. Cassini was a phenomenal investment!
Now we need to conquer Titan and Enceladus. Looking forward to Dragonfly and hopefully an Enceladus lander that can take samples near a vent and determine if bacteria do exist there after all.
Two space missions mark pivotal moments in my 70 years on our lovely little pale blue dot.
The first was on July 21, 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon to say, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." I was 16 years old, watching in real time on our family's clunky analog console TV. The images were fuzzy but the significance was clear. Humankind had taken a baby step into the cosmos.
The second was on July 1, 2004, when Carolyn added her insights about the Cassini mission in a press briefing at JPL in Pasadena CA. Humankind is still making tentative baby steps into the cosmos. Each step forward feels more surefooted. One step at a time.
Very interesting. And how exciting for you and the whole team! Just the tip of the iceberg of what you would discover and learn on this great adventure. I want to thank you for sharing this with the all of us armchair astronomers.
Hi Carolyn, Andrew here from Cambridge UK frmrly. Redlands CA, so nice to hear and to see you after following you on ciclops.org forever it seems. Thanks for the memories too. A.
I still remember it when Saturn orbit was achieved. Cassini was a phenomenal investment!
Now we need to conquer Titan and Enceladus. Looking forward to Dragonfly and hopefully an Enceladus lander that can take samples near a vent and determine if bacteria do exist there after all.
Two space missions mark pivotal moments in my 70 years on our lovely little pale blue dot.
The first was on July 21, 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon to say, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." I was 16 years old, watching in real time on our family's clunky analog console TV. The images were fuzzy but the significance was clear. Humankind had taken a baby step into the cosmos.
The second was on July 1, 2004, when Carolyn added her insights about the Cassini mission in a press briefing at JPL in Pasadena CA. Humankind is still making tentative baby steps into the cosmos. Each step forward feels more surefooted. One step at a time.
Very interesting. And how exciting for you and the whole team! Just the tip of the iceberg of what you would discover and learn on this great adventure. I want to thank you for sharing this with the all of us armchair astronomers.
Hi Carolyn, Andrew here from Cambridge UK frmrly. Redlands CA, so nice to hear and to see you after following you on ciclops.org forever it seems. Thanks for the memories too. A.
You're welcome, Andrew! Yes, I remember you. It's a sentimental day, isn't it?