With NASA’s Cassini mission coming to an end Sept. 15, the Link Observatory Space Science Institute is holding a presentation called “Cassini — The Grand Finale” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13 in the Carmel Clay Public Library. The Institute will share the fascinating story of the Cassini-Huygens mission, a collaboration of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency.
“NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004,” said Kurt Williams, the Institute’s Deputy Director. “No spacecraft has ever been this close to Saturn before. It’s now in the final chapter of its remarkable story.”
Cassini was back in contact with Earth last spring after its successful first-ever dive through the narrow gap between the planet Saturn and its rings on April 26. It began beaming back science and engineering data collected during its passage via NASA’s Deep Space Network Goldstone Complex in California’s Mojave Desert.
“When this mission started in 1997, we knew that 18 moons orbited the planet and that 13 more were possible,” said Williams. “But thanks to Cassini, we now know that there are 53 confirmed moons and another nine marked as ‘conditional.’”
The Institute will share Cassini’s history and more during this free program to take place in the Carmel Clay Public Library Program Room at 55 4th Ave. SE, Carmel, IN. Registration is not required. For more information, call the Reference Desk at (317) 844-3362.
The library programs are free because of generous support from local businesses and individuals. To continue these and other programs presented by the Link Observatory Space Science Institute, please visit www.LinkObservatory.org/support.