NASA releases first-ever photos from inside Saturn’s rings

This unprocessed NASA handout image released April 27, 2017, shows features in Saturn’s atmosphere from closer than ever before, captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during its first Grand Finale dive past the planet on April 26, 2017. (NASA/ AFP)

DUBAI: NASA announced Thursday that its Cassini spacecraft had sent home the closest-ever images of Saturn after plunging inside the planet’s rings.
The photographs — which show the planet’s clouds, a large-scale hurricane and an odd six-sided vortex weather system – were streamed back to Earth by the spacecraft which has been exploring Saturn for 13 years.
Now in its final laps around Saturn, Cassini dove through the narrow gap between the planet and its innermost ring on Wednesday, where no spacecraft has ever gone before.
The dive was the first of 22 planned close encounters.
“Cassini spacecraft has once again blazed a trail, showing us new wonders and demonstrating where our curiosity can take us if we dare,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration planetary sciences chief Jim Green said in a statement.
Cassini has been probing Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, and its entourage of 62 known moons since July 2004, but is running low on fuel.
The probe is expected to photograph several small inner moons and study the planet’s winds, clouds, auroras and gravity which could help scientists figure out what lies beneath its layers of clouds.
NASA officials are not certain Cassini will survive all its ring dives as the distance between Saturn and the rings is about 2,400 km wide and could be littered with ice particles and as the spacefrast is travelling at 124,000 kph, even small particles can be hazardous.
To protect itself, Cassini’s dish-shaped communications antenna was temporarily repositioned to serve as a shield. The spacecraft will make similar maneuvers during its subsequent dives, the next of which is scheduled for Tuesday.
On its final dive slated for on Sept. 15, Cassini is slated to destroy itself by flying directly into Saturn’s crushing atmosphere to avoid any chance the spacecraft could someday collide with any ocean-bearing moons that have the potential to support indigenous microbial life.
(With Reuters)