Cassini Flies Toward a Fiery Death on Saturn

All around the world scientists collaborate on projects like space and ocean exploration (like tsunami warning systems). They are so far ahead of the silly conflicts we see at the national and international conflict level. We need to think more about our being one planet, every human having the same essential needs of food, water, education, and peaceful civilization. Then we can have more scientific projects the like of Cassini-Huygens.

That video was one of the most beautifully written pieces I've ever seen, heard or read. The video, the graphics, the music; all of it, nothing short of excellent. Thank you!

This is breathtakingly beautiful.

A truly incredible achievement made even more remarkable by Dennis Overbye's skill at putting into words all the wonder and awe of this spectacular engineering feat.
While I know it "has to be done", I am surprisingly saddened by the death of Cassini.
Thank you NASA and thank you Mr. Overbye for your brilliant reportage.

Cassini is an amazing human accomplishment, I send my highest praises to the teams that developed and carried out her operations in the 20 years she has graced our solar system with her presence. I can't help but be saddened, however, by her pending demise as a fireball in the skies of Saturn. Would it not be more useful to us and any intelligent lifeforms who may encounter her if we were to simply let her fly off into space? Voyager I and II are doing just that now, doomed to eventual death by fuel starvation but transmitting back their amazing pictures to Earth to the very end of their fuel supplies. The Voyagers will, and Cassini could as well, become beacons for intergalactic peace and examples of humanity's greatest technological achievements. Seems a waste to just watch her burn up in an ignominious ball of fire. Also, shutting off her cameras a day before her death seems like putting a blindfold on a condemned prisoner's head just before his execution by firing squad. I hardly think the electrical drain on her batteries will alter her trajectory in any way, or will it? The reason for this was left out of Dennis Overbye's otherwise very fine article.

The reason I would like to live to a very ripe old age is to see more voyages and discoveries like this one. That mission to Enceladus, the Mars missions, exoplanets, discoveries by the Webb telescope, so many more. But alas, these are probably too far in the future for me to witness.

Space exploration by robots like Cassini.is humanity's greatest scientific achievement--no contest. Congratulations to the teams and thank you for inserting exciting stories in The NY Times's daily dose of bad news.

Makes me dream like a kid. Articles like this one are why I subscribe to The Times. Exquisite writing along with a beautiful video. Dennis Overbye is great!

what wonders! everytime I see the incredible images from this and other spacecraft (marvels of engineering created by very smart people), it makes me realize that this is my single greatest reason to live a lot longer, just to participate in these awe-inspiring discoveries

Wonderful, lyrical writing! Thanks.

Great article. Makes me feel like a child again watching star trek and/or star wars and wondering, hoping... But then I remember just how stagnant NASA has been the past 50 years. They need to stop making excuses and get us out of low earth orbit. We should have holographic renderings of the entire solar system by now but all we've gotten are highly CGI'd images from 1990's technology. What exactly are they doing with 20B dollars annually?

It would be interesting/helpful to know the reason behind turning the cameras off on the 14th instead of leaving it on along with the other instruments to document its plunge into the atmosphere on the 15th. Is to conserve energy, or maybe that it would lose function under increasing pressure and temperature beyond the 14th?

The video was absolutely beautiful. Makes you feel so small in the best way--brought a tear to my eyes.

This article is pure joy to read and Dennis Overby's narration sheer poetry. Thanks NASA, ESA, and the ISA.
The USD 4 billion spent on this mission is worth every penny and more.
I hope that we will continue funding such scientific endeavors.
Bravo NASA, ESA, and ISA!!!

September 11, 2017

Cassini probe of Saturn and its moons, rings, and its essence will be studied for a thousand years -all about our Solar System and its commonality and uniqueness as an oracle of scientific truths and that my friends is eternal life - all provided by the enlightened minds of vast contributions in an array of talents and multi disciplinary achievements that grows our wings towards the music of our universe - and maybe multiverse to study and learn to live in one world - ever eternal for sure if not infinite.

jja Manhattan, N.Y.

Farewell Cassini. You served us well with the amazing photo's. You will be sadly missed. Amazing job and thank you.

To learn and explore for no extrinsic reason is humanity at its best. The space exploration of NASA and its partners is a gift to all of humanity. I have followed Cassini-Huygens since its launch and I can say it has enriched my live. I cannot think of a better reason to feel pride in America than its space exploration program and the unparalleled technical prowess that makes it possible. Thank you Dennis Overbye for your wonderful science writing and especially the Out-There series of documentaries. They are both informative and poetic.

Thank you, Dr Porco and the rest of the Cassini team from the MIT Alumni of Colorado. An absolutely inspiring and profound accomplishment for humankind.

Jim MIT ‘77

As a space-struck kid from the 1950s on, to feel part of these missions through being just a human to a US citizen helping pay for them, to watching every animation conveying the dream we all have had of piloting our own personal spacecraft through Saturn's rings.

I cannot help but feel emotional in any goodbye, and to have a mere machine's demise make me feel sad is hard to explain, scientifically. The recognition that science and machines is one thing, but driven by human's need to explore and feel wonder helps me understand where this drive comes from. It will be a long time before something like this is available to inspire wonder and awe in our next generation, and I cannot help but feel that without the space oriented decades I was privileged to experience, that the new generation won't be caught up in the same awe that I was able to feel.

Goodbye Cassini. For a grown man to be teary when a mere machine meets it's end, having been a perfect machine, is a wee bit strange. But then again, maybe not. Thank you Cassini. Thank you mission specialists. Thank you, Science.

Bookmarking this awesome piece of science writing for when I need a bit of inspiration.

An awesome video!

I had intended to merely skim this article as I finished my breakfast at work, but those first two paragraphs fully engrossed me and I ardently devoured every single word thereafter. Beautifully done!

What an amazing accomplishment. A hearty thank you and kudos to the engineers and scientists and all others involved in this utterly astounding feat. The science gathered will keep us in suspense for many many more years until we can send another craft through those briny plumes. Just the discovery of all those moons and the braided structure of some of the rings was worth the price of admission. Thank you NASA and ESA. Well done!

I am over awed. When I read these science article, I feel connected to the eternal rhythms of the universe. We are in the palm of the amazing creator.

For me, science and faith are not mutually exclusive. We live in the long miracle of the universe.

Godspeed Cassini.

Thank you to all member of the Cassini mission who brought continued success to the project. You did good.

Watch the video for a shot of awe and a dose of the big picture to help us all remember how small and miraculous our precious planet is.

An incredible triumph of human skill and cooperation! A grand and noble feat science and human endeavor. An incredibly hopeful chapter in the human experience of wonder, of imagination, of learning.

Great work, Dennis, for this and all your other articles over the years. DeGrasse Tyson certainly has no monopoly on cogency and clarity, or in capturing the human perspective on scientific achievement. Also outstanding narration on the video -- if you also wrote it, another great piece of work. (Volcanos exiting stretch marks on an alien moon -- love it.)

Thanks for publishing this. Superb mission. Congrats to all.

I've been one lucky enough to watch this space craft with the visuals from the Air and Space Museum. As a photographer, the images returned to JPL and then shared to the public has instilled an emotional high difficult to explain beyond a simple WOW BOY HOWDY.
Possibly my grand daughters will be witness to greater learning from future space travels, man on Mars is a waste when space is the pallet of educational needs to study, one can hope we are not stupid enough to ignore the need to learn more.

What a truely great human achievement. Ended in the most humanitarian way. If only we could act this way on Earth. We wouldn't be talking about another great extinction.

Worth every penny.

This spectacular achievement was brought to you by science. Anyone who denies it should turn in the phones they tweet on and never be allowed to ride on an airplane again. They should certainly never be permitted to comment on climate. Thank you NASA.

These videos are often accompanied by Philip Glass-type minimalist music, which never fails to instill in me that feeling of using technology to reach beyond the confines of our bodies in space, grasping toward knowledge and something like purpose for the human spirit. I'm so proud to be a human being in these moments, with all our limitations and aspirations.

Thank you Dennis Overbye for your years of extraordinary reportage on this amazing story of space exploiration. Stunning actual photos and equally stunning animation. Brilliant narration of yet another wonderful video. Looking beyond our world for just a few minutes to take one's mind off of all the hurt and worry. Poetry in motion. A ballet of applied math, science and engineering. As it has done so often, The New York Times nearly takes my breath away. A salute to your high standards of journalism.

A beautiful film and spectacular science.

May we never allow the forces of darkness quash the light of wonder and knowledge.

Incredible.

I love your prose.

There's poetry in science, and this captures that beautifully. Thank you, Mr. Overbye and team, for this.

Thank you for that great video and great narrative by Mr. Overbye. One never ceases to be amazed by the immensity of space.