Latest Cassini pics- where are they?

[Jack Higgins]

According to the Cassini imaging site at http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/ ,

Starting in mid-February, when the planet will appear nearly twice as big as seen today, Cassini will start its initial approach sequence of data collection. At that point, frequent imaging of the planet, its rings and moons will commence.

It's the 21st february now... Anyone know when the mid-february images are to be released? If only every mission was as open about their image policy as the Mars Rovers are...

[Maksutov]

According to the Cassini imaging site at http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/ ,

Starting in mid-February, when the planet will appear nearly twice as big as seen today, Cassini will start its initial approach sequence of data collection. At that point, frequent imaging of the planet, its rings and moons will commence.

It's the 21st february now... Anyone know when the mid-february images are to be released? If only every mission was as open about their image policy as the Mars Rovers are...

It's apparently busy doing imaging for movies documenting its approaches to the ring system and Saturn itself, as well as many other types of data collection, storage, and transmission. Some of the pictures you referred to appear to have been imaged and sent, but I was unable to find them. Any day now, I would guess. Come on, guys and gals!

More info available here.

I have a real interest in this mission since I worked on some of the hardware. Always found it ironic that our first mission to Titan would be launched by a Titan.

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

update : check this amazing picture out


http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/media.../172_180_1.jpg


The X indicates the point where Cassini will pierce the ring plane on June 30, 2004, going from south to north of the ring plane, 25 minutes before the main engine fires to begin orbital insertion. The indicated point is between the narrow F-ring on the left and Saturn’s tenuous G-ring which is too faint to be seen in this exposure.

The image was taken on May 11, 2004 when the spacecraft was 26.3 million kilometers (16.3 million miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 158 kilometers (98 miles) per pixel. Moons visible in this image: Janus (181 kilometers, 113 miles across), one of the co-orbital moons; Pandora (84 kilometers, 52 miles across), one of the F ring shepherding moons; and Enceladus (499 kilometers, 310 miles across), a moon which may be heated from within and thus have a liquid sub-surface ocean.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado.

=D>

[somerandomguy]

I just can't fathom this. Between the rings?! Not around or over, but between them.

(I know, that's the only way to get into orbit, but still.)

Just one more example of why spaceflight is so cool...

=D>

[Peter3210]

I just can't fathom this. Between the rings?! Not around or over, but between them.

(I know, that's the only way to get into orbit, but still.)

Passing between the F and G rings shouldn't be a problem. They are rotating the spacecraft through 180 degrees just before they cross the ring plane. That way the huge high gain antenna acts to shield the rest of the spacecraft. The more interesting risk is that they have to rotate Cassini through an additional 180 degrees just 6 minutes after they cross the ring plane. This must be done to orient Cassini into a retrograde burn orientation that is necessary to bleed off the spacecraft's excess kinetic energy and get the thing into orbit around Saturn. On June 30 and July 1 there's no where else I'd rather be than tuned into NASA-TV!

[AK]

That way the huge high gain antenna acts to shield the rest of the spacecraft.

Doesn't that risk fatal damage to the high gain antenna? #-o

[01101001]

Doesn't that risk fatal damage to the high gain antenna?

If the HGA were actually pierced, odds are high it would just be a little hole in a big reflective dish.

If something vital in the HGA were damaged, there are 2 low-gain antennas as backup.