The immersion of the Cassini apparatus is displayed on September 15, 2017 in the atmosphere of Saturn
Scientists around the world celebrated a landmark grand finale - NASA Cassini immersion in the atmospheric layer of Saturn on September 15. It will take a lot of time to analyze the extracted data, but engineers have a clear picture of the descent performed. This information is useful for estimating atmospheric models and forecasting future missions.
The main speakers are information about traffic control. Each flywheel produces half of the nontome, which is equivalent to the weight of a tennis ball. In the last minutes, the device flew through the atmosphere, which is comparable in density with a weak gas. That is, there is practically no air there, but the pressure is close to a state of vacuum. Cassini moved 4.5 times faster than the ISS.
Increased speed increased and dynamic pressure. It’s like putting your hand out the window of a regular car, and then repeating it in a racing car. An hour before the entrance, Cassini swayed slightly backward / forward, adjusting his position with engines, so that the antenna was heading towards Earth. This lasted up to 3 minutes before the loss of the signal. At a distance of 1900 km, Cassini collided with the atmospheric layer. He came up with a directional 11-meter boom that met with thin gas. The engines used corrective gas nozzles to stop the rotation of the boom.
Thanks to the continuous roasting of the engines, the ship resisted in a battle with the atmosphere for a full 91 seconds. The engines gained 100% power in 20 seconds before the signal was completely lost. The last 8 seconds of the information indicates that the device began to slowly tilt back. After 83 minutes, the signals from Cassini completely disappeared from the monitors.
Cassini was not intended to dive into a planetary atmosphere, so it is surprising that he managed to hold out for so long and continue to collect valuable information. It was a durable machine, and he gave the maximum.
