Giant storms, methane lakes, and hidden oceans: Cassini’s best discoveries of Saturn and its moons
Early tomorrow morning, NASA scientists will say goodbye to their Cassini spacecraft — a hardy probe the size of a school bus that has been orbiting the Saturn system for the last 13 years.
Launched in 1997, Cassini has spent a whopping 20 years in space, lasting through two mission extensions while going above and beyond what it was designed to do. But tomorrow, the probe will dive into Saturn’s atmosphere, where it will break apart and cease operating. It’s a sad time for the scientists who have worked on this mission for years, but also a triumphant one: Cassini leaves an impressive legacy of scientific discovery in its wake.
Here are some of the biggest…
