Cassini: The Mission That Will Live Forever

By Nancy Atkinson September 14, 2017
Cassini: The Mission That Will Live Forever

Scan the rings from the inside with @CassiniSaturn on September 9th#CassiniInspires pic.twitter.com/vVxtdtaPZM

Scan the rings from the inside with @CassiniSaturn on September 9th#CassiniInspires pic.twitter.com/vVxtdtaPZM

“In one way,” Spilker said, “the mission will end. But we have collected this treasure trove of data, so we have decades of additional work ahead of us. With this firehose of data coming back basically every day, we have only been able to skim the cream off the top of the best images and data. But imagine how many new discoveries we haven’t made yet! The search for a more complete understanding of the Saturn system continues, and we leave that legacy to those who come after, as we dream of future missions to continue the exploration we began.”

Maybe step outside in the dark before Fri morning, find Saturn and take a moment to say hello and goodbye to @CassiniSaturn one final time

Maybe step outside in the dark before Fri morning, find Saturn and take a moment to say hello and goodbye to @CassiniSaturn one final time

A Journey’s End: our team members reflect on a historic, international collaboration https://t.co/LYtMIwghLE #GrandFinale #GoodbyeCassini pic.twitter.com/OsDRPGyo43

A Journey’s End: our team members reflect on a historic, international collaboration https://t.co/LYtMIwghLE #GrandFinale #GoodbyeCassini pic.twitter.com/OsDRPGyo43

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com