Cassini Saturn mission: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft enters ‘Grand Finale’ orbits - TomoNews
WASHINGTON — NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has begun the final stage of its mission after nearly 20 years traveling in space The Cassini spacecraft entered its “Grand Finale” orbits between Saturn’s cloud tops and the planet’s rings on April 26, CBS News reported. Cassini survived its first dive between Saturn and its innermost rings, sending back never-before-seen images of the planet’s atmosphere, including a hurricane, according to NASA. During 22 scheduled orbits, Cassini will measure ice and other content in Saturn’s rings, and take measurements from the planet’s rocky core. Cassini will enter its final orbit on Sep. 15, in which it is expected to destroy itself by flying directly into Saturn’s atmosphere. The Cassini spacecraft was launched on Oct. 15, 1997 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It traveled 2.2 billion miles to reach Saturn. ----------------------------------------------------------- Go to / tomonews and become a Patron now TomoNews is now on Patreon and we've got some cool perks for our hardcore fans. TomoNews is your best source for real news. We cover the funniest, craziest and most talked-about stories on the internet. Our tone is irreverent and unapologetic. If you’re laughing, we’re laughing. If you’re outraged, we’re outraged. We tell it like it is. And because we can animate stories, TomoNews brings you news like you’ve never seen before. Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.com Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter See a story that should be animated? Tell us about it! Suggest a story here: http://bit.ly/suggest-tomonews Stay connected with us here: Facebook / tomonewsus Twitter @tomonewsus / tomonewsus Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/ Instagram @tomonewsus / tomonewsus ~-~~-~~~-~~-~ Please watch: "Crying dog breaks the internet’s heart — but this sad dog story has a happy ending" • Video ~-~~-~~~-~~-~
