Cassini spacecraft, which is in its last phase of the journey, is regularly sending rare and amazing pics. NASA has decided to kill this craft due to low fuel and to explore deeper inside the Saturn. Recently it has found the earth as a bright speck between the Saturn’s broad rings. It is ready for its final dive into the ringed planet environment.
This snap was taken On April 12-13 when it was 870 miles (1.4 billion KM) away from earth. As per the NASA while taking this snap the craft’s lens was towards the southern Atlantic Ocean.
This spacecraft is searching the hidden facts of Saturn since 13 years. It is sending the data related to ring structure and planet’s composition. This is also investigating moons in the Saturn’s area and the planet itself.
Today (April 21-22) it will prepare itself for the grand finale to take 22 dives between Saturn and its rings. No spacecraft had ever traveled so closely and boldly.
In these images, the Saturn’s outer ring is visible from the top with its Keeler and Encke gaps. The F ring was visible at the bottom. This pic reveals only a few outermost ring; however, Saturn is far above the top of the photo.
This is not the first time Cassini is providing such rare images. Back in July 2013, it has captured the panoramic view of the planet and its rings. This includes Mars, Venus, and the moon, earth as pinpricks.
Recently Cassini has taken the very rare images of Saturn Moon ‘Atlas’. NASA said that these rare pics would help to know about its shapes and geology. These pics were taken about 7,000 miles distance from the moon. This was a very close flyby ever taken by any spacecraft.
Similarly, a few weeks ago it has taken beaming home pics of the huge space ravioli. It has captured the rarest snaps of Iapetus. They look like walnut and Mimas.
This not the really an end, it has sent thousands of images which helped scientist to dig more about the space. This craft has found the proof of water under the moon’s icy crust. This was a great proof that human may survive on another planet as well.
On 15th September, it will kill itself into the planet’s atmosphere. Before this, the craft will give the detailed data of gravitational and magnetic fields. This will help the scientist to know how the planets are formed.
