Comments on: Cassini Primary Mission Complete; Ready to Tackle New Assignments

By: R2K

R2K — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:01:22 +0000

Veege… (oops, ive said too much).

Voyager 1 I think has it. More than 100 AU, aka 1/10th the TAU mission distance.

By: LLDIAZ

LLDIAZ — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:56:09 +0000

whats the name of the sattelite thats furthest from earth and how far is it? and is it still sending back data from where it is?
thanx

By: Gudenboink

Gudenboink — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:13:07 +0000

I agree with you on the probes to Uranus and Neptune. They have always been the bastard child planets that only get a gratuitus mention now and then. You would think a planet that is orbiting on it side would spark more interest.

Carolyn Porco commented once about Uranus that there wasn't much excitement for the Voyager team when getting to Uranus because it was virtually a "plain – single colored planet".

Weird comment for a planetary scientist.

By: me

me — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:04:21 +0000

@ Steve : I couldn't agree more! Cassini is such a fantastic mission!

I wish there would be more missions like that. Maybe one to Uranus and one to Neptune? Who knows what they would find there?

By: marcellus

marcellus — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:14:10 +0000

Well done, Cassini!

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:27:22 +0000

For sure one of the greatest missions ever funded. Can't say enough good things about Cassini. Heres to many more years of stunning images, new discoveries and endless streams of scientific data ^^

By: neoguru

neoguru — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:08:23 +0000

Recall when Cassini was launched – all the protests and stupidities. Nobody's protesting now! Great mission. One of the best.

By: ToSeek

ToSeek — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:17:42 +0000

Well, NASA tends to be pretty conservative about their estimates for mission lifetimes. So usually either something goes wrong every early or else the mission lasts well beyond the official plans.

As for Carolyn Porco, she leads the imaging science team for Cassini. Robert Mitchell is the program manager, and Dennis Matson is the project scientist.

By: T.A. Radiant

T.A. Radiant — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:17:46 +0000

A job well done for Cassini and the NASA team. Does Ms. Porco still oversee the project for Cassini?

Cheers.

By: Nexus

Nexus — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:11:43 +0000

We have a great track record of getting our probes to keep going long after their mission is over. Cassini's going strong, Spirit and Opportunity have stayed alive on Mars way longer than anyone would have hoped. Even the Voyagers, old and tired and lonely as they are, are still sending back useful data.