Cassini: Probe incinerates on entry to Saturn

The American-led Cassini space mission to Saturn has just come to a spectacular end.
Controllers had commanded the probe to destroy itself by plunging into the planet's atmosphere.

It survived for just over a minute before being broken apart.
Cassini had run out of fuel and Nasa had determined that the probe should not be allowed simply to wander uncontrolled among Saturn and its moons.
The loss of signal from the spacecraft occurred pretty close to the prediction. Here at mission control, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, the drop-off was timed at 04:55 PDT (11:55 GMT; 12:55 BST).
Nasa's Earl Maize addressed fellow controllers: "Congratulations to you all. This has been an incredible mission, an incredible spacecraft and you're all an incredible team. I'm going to call this the end of mission. Project manager off the net."
The statement brought restrained applause and some comforting embraces.
The loss of signal indicated that the probe was tumbling wildly in the planet's gases. Travelling downwards at over 120,000km/h, it could have survived the violence for no more than about 45 seconds before being torn to pieces.
Incineration in the heat and pressure of the plunge was inevitable - but Cassini still managed to despatch home some novel data on the chemical composition of Saturn's atmosphere.

source : http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41207827

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