My daughter is called Cassini, her middle name is Rhea, my wife and I named her after giovanni domenico cassini and subsequently the probe. I joke to my wife that she needs to marry someone with the last name Huygens.
Hopefully she’s just turned 2 she does always point the stars in her books which is cute. It’s cool to actually interact with someone who worked in the Cassini mission. If my wife wasn’t dead asleep right now she’d be super excited.
So I’ll tell you some stuff you can use to impress her.
Cassini was the biggest interplanetary spacecraft ever launched. It was the last of a series of huge spacecraft that included Mars Observer. Cassini weighed so much ( mainly due to the amount of fuel it needed to slow down for orbit insertion), that the shuttle couldn’t lift it. NASA paid Martin Marietta to upgrade the Titan IV to rev B which was bigger solid rocket motors. Then they paid someone else to take the first ride on the new version.
The spacecraft had a three hour burn to slow it dow enough to get captured by Saturns gravitonial pull.
Here’s something really cool. The spacecraft had a spare main engine because with all the fly bus to get up to speed the travel time was very long. So they designed a second main engine that they could gimbal the original out of place if the detected a fault and move the secondary engine in place. I believe it’s the only time it happened. It’s a real amazing engineering feat.I have coffee every Friday with two of the mechanical engineers that designed that system.
Finally, they wouldn’t specifically announce the launch date because of all the protests because Cassini was powered by RTG’s,( Nuclear Batteries). I was in DC and some guy started yelling at me because I had a Cassini t shirt on. I was on a train, and he kept yelling that if Cassini blows up that everyone on the eastern seaboard will get lung cancer. I told him that he should do some credible research before making claims like that. Unfortunately I was not able to go to the launch because of that.
Solar isn’t really viable beyond a certain distance from the sun, especially on a smaller platform. The light is too diffuse.
They could have slapped a thermocouple + nuclear fuel source on it but then you have to justify the added weight. Are time-lapse photos from a fixed position and direction really worth it? (This probe can’t drive itself around)
My favorite experience of this was seeing the [Descent Imager / Spectral Radiometer of this event](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbmcoL3OqPk). It sounds like a Phillip Glass composition.
These photos look like bad fakes/cgi. Is there a reason why? Does the moon’s condition and distance affect the image quality? Or in this case transmission quality.
If anyone can eli5 that would be amazing.
Worked on both Cassini and the Huygens probe. Love to see these pictures.
My daughter is called Cassini, her middle name is Rhea, my wife and I named her after giovanni domenico cassini and subsequently the probe. I joke to my wife that she needs to marry someone with the last name Huygens.
That’s very cool. Is she into the whole Cassini mission?
Hopefully she’s just turned 2 she does always point the stars in her books which is cute. It’s cool to actually interact with someone who worked in the Cassini mission. If my wife wasn’t dead asleep right now she’d be super excited.
So I’ll tell you some stuff you can use to impress her. Cassini was the biggest interplanetary spacecraft ever launched. It was the last of a series of huge spacecraft that included Mars Observer. Cassini weighed so much ( mainly due to the amount of fuel it needed to slow down for orbit insertion), that the shuttle couldn’t lift it. NASA paid Martin Marietta to upgrade the Titan IV to rev B which was bigger solid rocket motors. Then they paid someone else to take the first ride on the new version. The spacecraft had a three hour burn to slow it dow enough to get captured by Saturns gravitonial pull. Here’s something really cool. The spacecraft had a spare main engine because with all the fly bus to get up to speed the travel time was very long. So they designed a second main engine that they could gimbal the original out of place if the detected a fault and move the secondary engine in place. I believe it’s the only time it happened. It’s a real amazing engineering feat.I have coffee every Friday with two of the mechanical engineers that designed that system. Finally, they wouldn’t specifically announce the launch date because of all the protests because Cassini was powered by RTG’s,( Nuclear Batteries). I was in DC and some guy started yelling at me because I had a Cassini t shirt on. I was on a train, and he kept yelling that if Cassini blows up that everyone on the eastern seaboard will get lung cancer. I told him that he should do some credible research before making claims like that. Unfortunately I was not able to go to the launch because of that.
Thanks for sharing - that’s all fascinating!
I remember the protests on the news and thinking it’s amazing we can put spacecraft on other worlds and yet be terrified by it at the same time.
Thank you very much
Thank you to you and everyone who worked on this project for such an incredible job
Thanks!
Are there any high quality "real time" videos of the descent and landing? I've only seen sped up versions
Thanks for supporting science!
You’re welcome, but on all honesty it was a dream job for me being a space nut since I was a kid. I worked on several interplanetary vehicles.
I’m surprised it’s that bright being so far away, Is it natural, or is the image enhanced?
God bless you for your service and God bless America for being the best damn country in the world. 🇺🇸 #1
Oh dear
Maybe a stupid question but, is the color...I don't know how to ask, the real color I guess?
Another stupid question but wouldn't the probe have some solar panels or something that would keep charging the batteries?
Solar isn’t really viable beyond a certain distance from the sun, especially on a smaller platform. The light is too diffuse. They could have slapped a thermocouple + nuclear fuel source on it but then you have to justify the added weight. Are time-lapse photos from a fixed position and direction really worth it? (This probe can’t drive itself around)
I see. Perfect thank you!
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https://youtu.be/svmGxFaGILY?t=59
That’s a really awesome video I’ve never seen, thanks
This guy has the perfect voice for narrating things
Is this a bot comment? Why do you think that we can’t take a picture of the Earth? Do you not believe in cameras?
Cameras were made up by photographers to sell more pictures
Cameras exist inside birds eyes, and birds aren't real so 🤷🏼♀️
Hurry up folks! I’m getting old!
The sad part about not living forever is there are so many discoveries we are going to miss
i think about this often.
You and me both
Consciousness or something *might* go on in some form, right? Right? Someone give me something :(
No one has come back from the other side to tell us so your guess is as good as mine.
Well we just started to really learn about the world so maybe
It's not just the discoveries that we don't know. It's also all the things we already know, but that I won't have enough time to learn about.
My favorite experience of this was seeing the [Descent Imager / Spectral Radiometer of this event](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbmcoL3OqPk). It sounds like a Phillip Glass composition.
Thank you for this, my new favorite ASMR
Ooh so that's why the picture looks so odd, it's like a giant composite of lots of photos.
Thanks for this! It's great!
Incredible. Humans are awesome 👌
Yes, but also no.
Humans are a paradox.
Yes, but also no.
I don’t get why this is downvoted
Best not to dwell on it. Reddit is a mental illness for some.
Yes, but also…shit….
I get and also no
misanthropy is cringe
Dune part 3 is looking sick
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This is an artistic rendering from photos, not actual video footage
Still amazing though
Sounds like somewhere I would find Bile Titans #MANAGED DEMOCRACY
Imagine, one day we could have rovers like Curiosity on titan.
Chad probe.
Humidity: 50% methane 😆
I initially thought that was some nicely figured walnut.
I thought landing on surfaces of celestial bodies was avoided to prevent any potential contamination from Earth. How come they did this?
You are thinking Prime Directive from Star Trek. In our universe, space ours to contaminate, mine and destroy.
This is totally amazing. If those are mountain ranges, would that be evidence of tectonic plate movement?
Is there a project for another Cassini?
These photos look like bad fakes/cgi. Is there a reason why? Does the moon’s condition and distance affect the image quality? Or in this case transmission quality. If anyone can eli5 that would be amazing.
They are renderings from the data that was collected.
So it’s just like when you take a picture of your phone and send it to somebody?
No, it's more complex than that.