Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    Cassini's Saturn Mission Goes Out In A Blaze Of Glory

    The NASA probe that's spent the past 13 years making countless discoveries about the ringed planet and its moons was taken out of orbit and sent plunging into Saturn's atmosphere.
    by Scott Neuman Sep 15, 2017 3 minutes
    Earl Maize (left), Cassini program manager at JPL, and Julie Webster, spacecraft operations team manager for the Cassini mission at Saturn, embrace after the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn on Friday at precisely 7:55 a.m. ET. / Handout / Getty Images

    Updated at 8:15 a.m. ET

    Controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory sent a final command Friday morning to the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn. Not long after, accounting for the vast distance the message traveled, the order was received, putting the craft into a suicidal swan dive, plummeting into the ringed planet's atmosphere.

    Flight Director Julie Webster called "loss of signal" at about 7:55 a.m. ET, followed by Project Manager Earl Maize announcing "end of mission" as the spacecraft

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR2 min read
    Tesla Recalls Cybertruck Over Sticky Problem. Blame It On — Yes — Soap
    Accelerator pedals on the new Cybertrucks can get stuck, a potentially dangerous production flaw. The reason why they're so sticky is soap.
    NPR1 min read
    Amsterdam Was Flooded With Tourists In 2023, So It Won't Allow Any More Hotels
    Twenty-six hotels that already have permits can move forward, but after that a hotel can only be built if one shuts down. Tourists spent about 20.7 million nights in Amsterdam hotels last year.
    NPR3 min readDiet & Nutrition
    What World War II Taught Us About How To Help Starving People Today
    The modern study of starvation was sparked by the liberation of concentration camp survivors. U.S. and British soldiers rushed to feed them — and yet they sometimes perished.

    Related Books & Audiobooks