My dad was on the Cassini team at Lockheed Martin. This is his favorite baby.
Anyone remember the hysteria the environuts suffered when Cassini swung around the sun and passed by the Earth on it’s way to Saturn? I heard these idiots actually say out loud that Cassini was going to reenter the atmosphere and kill all life on the planet.
It certainly killed all intelligent life in DC.
Great job by the Lockheed Martin team and your Dad!
6 years already.. wow..
lots of images over at the space.com photo gallery
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/igviewer.php?gid=384
The Rings and Moons of Saturn
A Tectonic Feast
The Cassini spacecraft has been studying Saturn and its moons since it entered orbit in 2004. These 15 snapshots were some of its most popular as Cassini began an extended mission that now stretches to 2017. .. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Tell your Dad “Thank You”!!
I remember the controversy over the launch of Cassini well; the far left was screaming about the risks if the plutonium power source reentered the atmosphere. It was always minimal at best, and it proved that some people will complain if you hang them with a new rope...
Frankly the science of Cassini has been worth whatever risk there may have been, and the pictures are just astounding!
People don’t widely know that Cassini was timed to get to Saturn at the time when the sun passed the plane of the orbit of the rings, which only happens every 75 years or so, and that has been one of the main reasons that Cassini has made so many startling discoveries.
Cassini is another amazing value for the money spent to design, build and launch that spacecraft, and our Country owes an enormous debt of gratitude to your Dad and everyone else at Lockheed Martin and NASA who continues to work this amazing spacecraft.
IIRC, the environmentalists were exorcised about the fact that Cassini had a nuclear reactor on board, to keep it going in deep space. They were upset about the possibility of it blowing up when it launched, and contaminating the earth with all that nasty nuke stuff.