PunkTheFunk 125,703 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Cassini has used a gravitational slingshot around Saturn's moon Titan to put it on a path towards destruction. Saturday's flyby swept the probe into an orbit that takes it in between the planet's rings and its atmosphere. This gap-run gives the satellite the chance finally to work out the length of a day on Saturn, and to determine the age of its stunning rings. But the manoeuvre means also that it cannot escape a fiery plunge into Saturn's clouds in September. Put on your shades, 'cause I'll be dancing in the flames Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!) It isn't hell if everybody knows my name tonight (Alright! Alright!) The US space agency (Nasa) is calling an end to 12 years of exploration and discovery at Saturn because the probe's propellant tanks are all but empty. Controllers cannot risk an unresponsive satellite one day crashing into - and contaminating - the gas giant's potentially life-supporting moons, and so they have opted for a strategy that guarantees safe disposal. "If Cassini runs out of fuel it would be uncontrolled and the possibility that it could crash-land on the moons of Titan and/or Enceladus are unacceptably high," said Dr Earl Maize, Nasa's Cassini programme manager. "We could put it into a very long orbit far from Saturn but the science return from that would be nowhere near as good as what we're about to do," he told BBC News. In the years that it has been studying the Saturnian system, the probe has flown by the haze-shrouded world on 126 occasions - each time getting a kick that bends it towards a new region of interest. And on Saturday, Cassini pulled on the gravitational "elastic band" one last time, to shift from an orbit that grazes the outer edge of Saturn's main ring system to a flight path that skims the inner edge and puts it less than 3,000km above the planet's cloud tops. The probe will make the first of these gap runs next Wednesday, repeating the dive every six and a half days through to its death plunge, scheduled to occur at about 10:45 GMT on 15 September. Scientists used Saturday's pass of Titan to make some final close-up observations of the moon. This extraordinary world is dominated at northern latitudes by great lakes and seas of liquid methane. I love to rowboat with you and your wife in Titan's methane lakes This is a bitter-sweet moment for scientists. Titan has yielded so many discoveries, and although the probe will continue to encounter the moon in the coming months, it will never again get so close - less than 1,000km from ground level. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39672263 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackstar 11,512 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 mess the gifs Dilated, falling free in a modern ecstasy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot 6,319 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 I was trying to understand the title until I saw your name attached to it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi Its Nicole 5,428 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Ugh I just love your threads Hello Gaga Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachJug 3,140 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 gotta get that science lesson in Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madam Margolyes 7,783 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 THIS THREAD IS SO ICONIC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warhol killah 9,129 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Iconic user, iconic thread, iconic gifs a GAGA sound fanatic ✴ graphic design Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxe Ford 3,481 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Saturn just probed my ear and got lost in the haze. What happens in Luxe Ford stays in Luxe Ford Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Slayne 4,154 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 this was educational and funny bopping to TEOG rn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CannaeDrive 3,412 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 You are so extra Educate us with that science knowledge and random gifs "Fame Is A Boomerang" - Maria Callas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Envi 765 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Your thread is cute, but none of the responses thus far actually talked what's in the article. Those gifs are really distracting ~~~ OT: Well, all good things must come to an end. This is not the end, pretty sure NASA is preparing a new one, and this means our scientific understanding about space keeps getting better (it has to) ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunkTheFunk 125,703 Posted April 22, 2017 Author Share Posted April 22, 2017 21 minutes ago, Envi said: Your thread is cute, but none of the responses thus far actually talked what's in the article. Those gifs are really distracting I have to give the gheys what they want Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fame Joanne 5,985 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 I have to know how that gif of the man jumping into the fire continues Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZephyrInTheSky 1,235 Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Gurl where do u think youre going? Where do u think you're gooiing goiinngg gurl That should play while Titan approaches destruction There can be 99 bottoms in the area but all it takes is 1 top to believe in you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunkTheFunk 125,703 Posted April 23, 2017 Author Share Posted April 23, 2017 5 hours ago, DonatelloGUY said: Gurl where do u think youre going? Where do u think you're gooiing goiinngg gurl That should play while Titan approaches destruction Take my beanie, Cassini Saturn's not, ready for you Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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