Solar System: Things to Know This Week
With only four months left in the mission, Cassini is busy at Saturn. The upcoming cargo launch, anniversaries and more!
As our Cassini spacecraft made its first-ever dive through the gap between Saturn and its rings on April 26, 2017, one of its imaging cameras took a series of rapid-fire images that were used to make this movie sequence. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Hampton University
Our Cassini spacecraft has begun its final mission at Saturn. Some dates to note:
May 28, 2017: Cassini makes its riskiest ring crossing as it ventures deeper into Saturn's innermost ring (D ring).
June 29, 2017: On this day in 2004, the Cassini orbiter and its travel companion the European Space Agency's Huygens probe arrived at Saturn.
September 15, 2017: In a final, spectacular dive, Cassini will plunge into Saturn - beaming science data about Saturn's atmosphere back to Earth to the last second. It's all over at 5:08 a.m. PDT.
More about the Grand Finale
4. Cargo Launch to the International Space Station
June 1, 2017: Target date of the cargo launch. The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A at our Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The payload includes NICER, an instrument to measure neutron stars, and ROSA, a Roll-Out Solar Array that will test a new solar panel that rolls open in space like a party favor.
July 4, 2017: Twenty years ago, a wagon-sized rover named Sojourner blazed the trail for future Mars explorers - both robots and, one day, humans. Take a trip back in time to the vintage Mars Pathfinder websites:
August 20, 2017: Forty years and still going strong, our twin Voyagers mark 40 years since they left Earth.
August 21, 2017: All of North America will be treated to a rare celestial event: a total solar eclipse. The path of totality runs from Oregon to South Carolina.
8. From Science Fiction to Science Fact
Light a candle for the man who took rocketry from science fiction to science fact. On this day in 1882, Robert H. Goddard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts.
October 28, 2017: Howl (or look) at the moon with the rest of the world. It's time for the annual International Observe the Moon Night.
10. Last Human on the Moon
December 13, 2017: Forty-five years ago, Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan left the last human footprint on the moon.
Discover more lists of 10 things to know about our solar system HERE.
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