The Cassini-Huygens probe has enabled scientists analyse the surface and atmosphere of some of Saturn's mysterious moons SHREESHAN VENKATESH
ON SEPTEMBER 15 this year, the Cassini probe, beamed its final images back to earth from over a billion kilometres away. NASA scientists arranged for a fittingly poetic end to the Saturn mission as the probe dove into the object of its occupation for over two decades. Plunging down at a speed close to 125,000 km/hr, the spacecraft burned up and became one with the big planet.
Almost 20 years ago on October 15, 1997, scientists from NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency, together embarked on a mission to study Saturn, the farthest planet visible to the naked eye in our solar system. It was the farthest humans had ever inserted a probe into the solar system. Until then, scientists had only managed glimpses captured by NASA’s Voyager spacecrafts on their way to the outer solar system. The Cassini mission, named after the 17th century Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini who had discovered the divisions in Saturn’s rings and four of its moons, was planned to orbit Saturn and study in close detail its rings and the condition of its many moons. To give you an idea of how much has changed in our understanding of the planet in the last two decades consider this—when Cassini was launched, fewer than 20 of the 62 currently known moons of Saturn had been discovered.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 16, 2017 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 16, 2017 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Joining The Carbon Club
India's carbon market will soon be a reality, but will it fulfil its aim of reducing emissions? A report by PARTH KUMAR and MANAS AGRAWAL
Trade On Emissions
EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports, is designed to protect European industries in the guise of climate action.
'The project will facilitate physical and cultural decimation of indigenous people'
The Great Nicobar Project has all the hallmarks of a disaster-seismic, ecological, human. Why did it get the go-ahead?
TASTE IT RED
Popularity of Karnataka's red jackfruit shows how biodiversity can be conserved by ensuring that communities benefit from it
MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO
Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.
The politics and economics of mpox
Africa's mpox epidemic stems from delayed responses, neglect of its health risks and the stark vaccine apartheid
Emerging risks
Even as the world gets set to eliminate substances threatening the ozone layer, climate change and space advancement pose new challenges.
Turn a new leaf
Scientists join hands to predict climate future of India's tropical forests
Festering troubles
The Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to contain mpox amid vaccine delays, conflict and fragile healthcare.
India sees unusual monsoon patterns
THE 2024 southwest monsoon has, between June 1 and September 1, led to excess rainfall in western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while others like Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab recorded a deficit.