1 00:00:02,268 --> 00:00:05,038 [dramatic music] 2 00:00:38,438 --> 00:00:40,573 - Hello everyone, I'm Gay Yee Hill, 3 00:00:40,573 --> 00:00:43,443 and welcome to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 4 00:00:43,443 --> 00:00:45,845 After two decades in space, 5 00:00:45,845 --> 00:00:48,114 the Cassini spacecraft has reached 6 00:00:48,114 --> 00:00:50,316 the end of its journey at Saturn. 7 00:00:50,316 --> 00:00:52,719 Earlier this morning, the spacecraft made 8 00:00:52,719 --> 00:00:55,088 its final approach to the giant planet, 9 00:00:55,088 --> 00:00:57,991 and plunged into Saturn's upper atmosphere, 10 00:00:57,991 --> 00:01:00,760 ending this extraordinary mission. 11 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,730 But due to the time it takes for radio signals 12 00:01:03,730 --> 00:01:06,499 to travel almost a billion miles 13 00:01:06,499 --> 00:01:08,701 between the ringed planet and Earth, 14 00:01:08,701 --> 00:01:11,504 the team won't have confirmation that the mission 15 00:01:11,504 --> 00:01:15,675 has ended until they see Cassini's signal drop away. 16 00:01:17,110 --> 00:01:19,312 The Deep Space Network is monitoring Cassini's signal. 17 00:01:19,312 --> 00:01:22,549 As you can see on this DSN Now display, 18 00:01:22,549 --> 00:01:26,286 it's being tracked by a 70-meter-wide antenna, 19 00:01:26,286 --> 00:01:29,222 Antenna 43, in Canberra, Australia. 20 00:01:31,491 --> 00:01:33,726 Here's a live picture of the control room 21 00:01:33,726 --> 00:01:35,495 on the other side of the world. 22 00:01:35,495 --> 00:01:37,564 The DSN team in Australia is keeping 23 00:01:37,564 --> 00:01:41,134 a watchful eye on Cassini's final transmission. 24 00:01:41,134 --> 00:01:44,804 Meanwhile, it is four AM here in California. 25 00:01:46,306 --> 00:01:49,943 The sun is not up yet and more than 1500 Cassini scientists, 26 00:01:51,144 --> 00:01:53,546 engineers, alumni, friends, and family 27 00:01:53,546 --> 00:01:55,515 have gathered for this moment. 28 00:01:55,515 --> 00:01:59,219 The flight team is in the Cassini Mission Control Area. 29 00:01:59,219 --> 00:02:03,323 Others have gathered in von Karman Auditorium here at JPL, 30 00:02:04,491 --> 00:02:07,827 and still more are at CalTech in Pasadena. 31 00:02:09,295 --> 00:02:12,165 Folks wanted to be together to share this final moment. 32 00:02:13,333 --> 00:02:15,468 This is a vigil, but also a celebration 33 00:02:15,468 --> 00:02:17,871 of a remarkable mission. 34 00:02:17,871 --> 00:02:21,441 This is the last hour of the last chapter 35 00:02:21,441 --> 00:02:23,610 of Cassini's grand finale. 36 00:02:26,646 --> 00:02:29,482 [dramatic music] 37 00:02:30,416 --> 00:02:33,453 - [Narrator] A lone explorer. 38 00:02:33,453 --> 00:02:37,123 On a mission to reveal the grandeur of Saturn, 39 00:02:37,123 --> 00:02:38,791 its rings and moons. 40 00:02:44,297 --> 00:02:48,168 After 20 years in space, NASA's Cassini spacecraft 41 00:02:48,168 --> 00:02:50,069 is running out of fuel. 42 00:02:51,905 --> 00:02:54,908 And so, to protect moons of Saturn 43 00:02:54,908 --> 00:02:58,578 that could have conditions suitable for life, 44 00:02:58,578 --> 00:03:00,747 a spectacular end has been planned 45 00:03:00,747 --> 00:03:04,083 for this long-lived traveler from Earth. 46 00:03:06,986 --> 00:03:10,490 - [Announcer] Five, four, three, two, one. 47 00:03:11,958 --> 00:03:14,794 And lift-off of the Cassini spacecraft 48 00:03:14,794 --> 00:03:17,397 on a billion-mile trek to Saturn. 49 00:03:17,397 --> 00:03:19,365 We have cleared the tower. 50 00:03:19,365 --> 00:03:20,967 Pitch program is in. 51 00:03:20,967 --> 00:03:22,468 Roll program is in. 52 00:03:23,803 --> 00:03:26,739 - [Narrator] In 2004, following a seven-year journey 53 00:03:26,739 --> 00:03:30,210 through the solar system, Cassini arrived at Saturn. 54 00:03:31,344 --> 00:03:32,612 - [Announcer] The SOI burn attitude are 55 00:03:32,612 --> 00:03:34,948 pointing position, and light up the rockets. 56 00:03:34,948 --> 00:03:38,218 - [Narrator] The spacecraft carried a passenger, 57 00:03:38,218 --> 00:03:40,386 the European Huygens Probe, 58 00:03:40,386 --> 00:03:43,289 the first human-made object to land on a world 59 00:03:43,289 --> 00:03:45,892 in the distant outer solar system. 60 00:03:45,892 --> 00:03:48,828 - [Announcer] The Huygens arrival on Saturn's moon, Titan. 61 00:03:48,828 --> 00:03:50,730 - [Narrator] For over a decade, 62 00:03:50,730 --> 00:03:53,399 Cassini has shared the wonders of Saturn 63 00:03:53,399 --> 00:03:55,768 and its family of icy moons, 64 00:03:55,768 --> 00:03:58,071 taking us to astounding worlds 65 00:03:58,071 --> 00:04:01,608 where methane rivers run to a methane sea, 66 00:04:01,608 --> 00:04:05,778 where jets of ice and gas are blasting material 67 00:04:06,980 --> 00:04:08,881 into space from a liquid water ocean 68 00:04:08,881 --> 00:04:12,452 that might harbor the ingredients for life. 69 00:04:13,853 --> 00:04:17,824 And Saturn, a giant world ruled by raging storms 70 00:04:18,858 --> 00:04:21,561 and delicate harmonies of gravity. 71 00:04:24,864 --> 00:04:28,534 Now, Cassini has one last daring assignment. 72 00:04:37,277 --> 00:04:41,281 Cassini's grand finale is a brand-new adventure. 73 00:04:44,751 --> 00:04:48,321 As it repeatedly braves this unexplored region, 74 00:04:48,321 --> 00:04:51,557 Cassini seeks new insights about the origins of the rings 75 00:04:51,557 --> 00:04:54,627 and the nature of the planet's interior, 76 00:04:54,627 --> 00:04:57,463 closer to Saturn than ever before. 77 00:05:04,570 --> 00:05:08,741 On the final orbit, Cassini will plunge into Saturn, 78 00:05:09,876 --> 00:05:13,212 fighting to keep its antenna pointed at Earth 79 00:05:13,212 --> 00:05:15,648 as it transmits its farewell. 80 00:05:17,850 --> 00:05:21,254 In the skies of Saturn, the journey ends, 81 00:05:25,024 --> 00:05:28,761 as Cassini becomes part of the planet itself. 82 00:05:53,486 --> 00:05:57,156 - Okay, let's do the numbers, the Cassini numbers. 83 00:05:57,156 --> 00:05:59,225 The mission has traveled nearly 84 00:05:59,225 --> 00:06:01,794 five billion miles since launch, 85 00:06:01,794 --> 00:06:04,297 executed 2.5 million commands, 86 00:06:05,698 --> 00:06:09,635 taken 453,000-plus images, discovered six moons, 87 00:06:11,838 --> 00:06:15,375 published nearly 4,000 science papers, 88 00:06:15,375 --> 00:06:17,243 and it's not done. 89 00:06:17,243 --> 00:06:21,414 Cassini is sending home data right now, right to the end. 90 00:06:22,281 --> 00:06:23,750 Let's take a look now and talk 91 00:06:23,750 --> 00:06:26,486 to Cassini program manager Earl Maize about this. 92 00:06:26,486 --> 00:06:30,323 After a lineup like that, you have to be impressed. 93 00:06:30,323 --> 00:06:31,557 - We are impressed. 94 00:06:31,557 --> 00:06:33,760 It's very impressive, and we're very proud 95 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:35,595 of what we've been able to accomplish 96 00:06:35,595 --> 00:06:37,764 over the last 13 years at Saturn, it's just been awesome. 97 00:06:37,764 --> 00:06:39,799 - So a lot of people are asking, then, 98 00:06:39,799 --> 00:06:42,268 why must we end this mission this way? 99 00:06:42,268 --> 00:06:45,571 - Well really, if you think about it a little bit, 100 00:06:45,571 --> 00:06:48,007 you'll find out we didn't have any choice. 101 00:06:48,007 --> 00:06:52,145 Cassini must be disposed of properly at some point. 102 00:06:52,145 --> 00:06:54,313 There are international treaties that require 103 00:06:54,313 --> 00:06:56,282 that we can't just leave a derelict spacecraft 104 00:06:56,282 --> 00:06:58,084 in orbit around a planet like Saturn, 105 00:06:58,084 --> 00:06:59,519 which has prebiotic moons. 106 00:06:59,519 --> 00:07:01,621 So we've got to do something about it. 107 00:07:01,621 --> 00:07:03,990 We could have sent Cassini away from Saturn, 108 00:07:03,990 --> 00:07:07,493 but Saturn was so compelling, so exciting, 109 00:07:08,628 --> 00:07:10,563 and the mission that we finally came up with 110 00:07:10,563 --> 00:07:14,333 is so rich scientifically that we just couldn't, 111 00:07:14,333 --> 00:07:17,970 we had to finish up at Saturn, not someplace else. 112 00:07:17,970 --> 00:07:21,307 So the mission really started about seven years ago. 113 00:07:21,307 --> 00:07:23,309 We've been on this path to actually end up 114 00:07:23,309 --> 00:07:25,778 right where we are, right now, in less than an hour. 115 00:07:25,778 --> 00:07:28,080 - So, let's talk about what's about to happen 116 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,818 and kind of walk viewers through what to expect. 117 00:07:31,818 --> 00:07:35,087 But let's start with Monday and the kiss goodbye. 118 00:07:35,087 --> 00:07:36,556 Can we talk about that? 119 00:07:36,556 --> 00:07:38,424 - Can we bring up this first graphic? 120 00:07:38,424 --> 00:07:39,826 Let's see what we got here. 121 00:07:39,826 --> 00:07:43,362 So this is the last 22 orbits of Saturn. 122 00:07:43,362 --> 00:07:46,032 And every one of them is going between the rings 123 00:07:46,032 --> 00:07:49,669 and Saturn, absolutely unexplored territory, 124 00:07:49,669 --> 00:07:51,938 fantastic science every time. 125 00:07:51,938 --> 00:07:54,006 And what's been also happening is that 126 00:07:54,006 --> 00:07:56,476 that out there further away is Titan, 127 00:07:56,476 --> 00:07:58,377 and every now and then, Titan comes by, 128 00:07:58,377 --> 00:08:00,480 and you're gonna see it come by for one last 129 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:02,748 final kiss goodbye, that was it. 130 00:08:02,748 --> 00:08:04,450 It was very quick. 131 00:08:04,450 --> 00:08:06,085 You have to, don't blink. 132 00:08:06,085 --> 00:08:08,721 What happened on Monday was that Titan came by 133 00:08:08,721 --> 00:08:11,123 and gave Cassini one last little nudge. 134 00:08:11,123 --> 00:08:13,793 Took away a few 10ths of meters per second, 135 00:08:13,793 --> 00:08:16,863 slowed us down just enough so that our entry 136 00:08:16,863 --> 00:08:19,165 into Saturn in just a few minutes now 137 00:08:19,165 --> 00:08:20,766 is absolutely inevitable. 138 00:08:20,766 --> 00:08:24,036 - So, Cassini's fate is just sealed. 139 00:08:24,036 --> 00:08:25,738 - Sealed, absolutely done. 140 00:08:25,738 --> 00:08:27,874 There was, wasn't much we could've done about it before 141 00:08:27,874 --> 00:08:29,976 because this thing had been so wired in, 142 00:08:29,976 --> 00:08:31,477 but after that Titan fly by, 143 00:08:31,477 --> 00:08:33,279 there is absolutely nothing we can do. 144 00:08:33,279 --> 00:08:35,481 - So, step us through what has happened 145 00:08:35,481 --> 00:08:39,218 over this last week then, getting ready for this moment. 146 00:08:39,218 --> 00:08:41,721 - Okay well, because Cassini's still 147 00:08:41,721 --> 00:08:44,423 a science machine, really most of what we've been doing 148 00:08:44,423 --> 00:08:46,058 is still gathering more science. 149 00:08:46,058 --> 00:08:47,927 And so, if you look at this graphic up here, 150 00:08:47,927 --> 00:08:50,229 we saw, there's the Titan, the kiss goodbye 151 00:08:50,229 --> 00:08:53,299 on September 11th, and then we turn right back around 152 00:08:53,299 --> 00:08:56,569 after flying by Titan, getting a lot of Titan, 153 00:08:56,569 --> 00:08:58,371 we turned around, played all that data back, 154 00:08:58,371 --> 00:09:00,139 it's on the monitors on these displays, 155 00:09:00,139 --> 00:09:01,641 you can see those. 156 00:09:01,641 --> 00:09:03,242 Played back all of the data from Titan, 157 00:09:03,242 --> 00:09:05,278 got confused with the north of the lakes 158 00:09:05,278 --> 00:09:07,680 and the clouds again, then Cassini turned 159 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:11,517 back around again for its final set of science observations. 160 00:09:11,517 --> 00:09:13,486 And we actually did a little bit of science 161 00:09:13,486 --> 00:09:16,055 and a little bit of just nostalgia. 162 00:09:16,055 --> 00:09:17,957 We took our last picture of Enceladus, 163 00:09:17,957 --> 00:09:19,392 our last picture of Titan, 164 00:09:19,392 --> 00:09:22,395 our last picture of the rings and planet, 165 00:09:22,395 --> 00:09:25,264 and we want to more look at the propellers 166 00:09:25,264 --> 00:09:28,200 and Peggy, the little moon we discovered 167 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:29,402 out in the A ring. 168 00:09:29,402 --> 00:09:30,903 So there's a little bit of science, 169 00:09:30,903 --> 00:09:33,739 a little bit of just kind of last memento photos, 170 00:09:33,739 --> 00:09:35,541 and those all got played back, 171 00:09:35,541 --> 00:09:38,277 beginning yesterday afternoon, about 2:45. 172 00:09:38,277 --> 00:09:40,646 Cassini turned back for final call to Earth, 173 00:09:40,646 --> 00:09:42,281 played all those data back. 174 00:09:42,281 --> 00:09:44,183 They're also available on real time display. 175 00:09:44,183 --> 00:09:46,519 About one o'clock this morning, 176 00:09:46,519 --> 00:09:48,654 all that data was down on the ground. 177 00:09:48,654 --> 00:09:50,890 Cassini then rigged herself up for, 178 00:09:50,890 --> 00:09:54,193 if we go back to that timeline just for a moment. 179 00:09:54,193 --> 00:09:56,729 Can we go back one, yeah. - Go back one, there you go. 180 00:09:56,729 --> 00:10:00,633 So September 15th and 137 down there, that last plot, 181 00:10:00,633 --> 00:10:04,370 we actually figured ourselves into a real-time Saturn probe. 182 00:10:04,370 --> 00:10:06,072 Everything that comes into the 183 00:10:06,072 --> 00:10:08,374 spacecraft goes right back out. 184 00:10:08,374 --> 00:10:10,710 So there's no delay, or as little delay as we could make, 185 00:10:10,710 --> 00:10:12,578 so that we actually can become an atmospheric 186 00:10:12,578 --> 00:10:14,747 sampling mission as we go into the planet. 187 00:10:14,747 --> 00:10:18,918 And then of course at 4:55 AM, that's give or take a few 188 00:10:20,453 --> 00:10:22,622 seconds on that, we'll be entering into Saturn's atmosphere. 189 00:10:22,622 --> 00:10:24,790 - And let's advance to the next display. 190 00:10:24,790 --> 00:10:28,060 This is what's going to be happening within the last hour. 191 00:10:28,060 --> 00:10:31,030 - That's exactly right, we came in over the North Pole, 192 00:10:31,030 --> 00:10:34,000 just a little bit east from that perspective. 193 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,036 Actually that looks west here, but a little bit over 194 00:10:37,036 --> 00:10:39,639 the North Pole, just before four o'clock this morning, 195 00:10:39,639 --> 00:10:41,440 we were 60 degrees north, and as you 196 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:43,609 can see, that descent is very rapid. 197 00:10:43,609 --> 00:10:46,412 In 20 minutes from now or so we'll be at 50 degrees north. 198 00:10:46,412 --> 00:10:49,582 Then 12 minutes later 40, and we'll be slowly, 199 00:10:49,582 --> 00:10:51,951 not slowly, very rapidly increasing. 200 00:10:51,951 --> 00:10:55,087 The 10 degree north latitude impact point 201 00:10:55,087 --> 00:10:57,690 is just about where we're gonna finish up. 202 00:10:57,690 --> 00:11:01,560 And it's gonna happen about 5:05 this morning local time. 203 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:03,529 - And the last 90 seconds. 204 00:11:03,529 --> 00:11:06,232 - The last 90 seconds, this is really 205 00:11:06,232 --> 00:11:07,767 where it's all gonna be happening. 206 00:11:07,767 --> 00:11:09,769 Cassini's not gonna even really notice 207 00:11:09,769 --> 00:11:12,705 Saturn until the last 90 seconds. 208 00:11:12,705 --> 00:11:14,907 Because it's in free fall around the gravitational body, 209 00:11:14,907 --> 00:11:18,010 it's just doing its thing and playing our thing. 210 00:11:18,010 --> 00:11:21,447 But between 70 and 60 seconds out from final impact, 211 00:11:21,447 --> 00:11:23,549 it will start to notice the atmosphere, 212 00:11:23,549 --> 00:11:25,451 and you can see in this graphic the very 213 00:11:25,451 --> 00:11:28,020 tenuous atmosphere starting to experience. 214 00:11:28,020 --> 00:11:30,256 Now Cassini's been fighting in that atmosphere before. 215 00:11:30,256 --> 00:11:31,791 As a matter of fact for the last 216 00:11:31,791 --> 00:11:33,826 five revs we've been doing that. 217 00:11:33,826 --> 00:11:35,628 And it's done very well. 218 00:11:35,628 --> 00:11:38,297 But this time, because we're gonna go in so deep, 219 00:11:38,297 --> 00:11:39,999 there's not a chance that it can 220 00:11:39,999 --> 00:11:41,767 fight to hold onto the atmosphere. 221 00:11:41,767 --> 00:11:44,003 That atmosphere where we've been fighting so far 222 00:11:44,003 --> 00:11:47,673 is about the same density as the atmosphere that 223 00:11:47,673 --> 00:11:50,843 the International Space Station experiences here on Earth. 224 00:11:50,843 --> 00:11:54,413 Very thin, but we're going very very fast. [laughs] 225 00:11:54,413 --> 00:11:58,017 - Alright, and we have the animation from the video early. 226 00:11:58,017 --> 00:12:00,453 It sort of helps us envision. - Okay. 227 00:12:00,453 --> 00:12:02,988 - [Gay] Although it might be painful to watch. 228 00:12:02,988 --> 00:12:05,224 - Well it's actually, what's your 229 00:12:05,224 --> 00:12:06,759 watching is valued spacecraft. 230 00:12:06,759 --> 00:12:09,495 So you can see the thrusters coming out the back 231 00:12:09,495 --> 00:12:11,530 as it starts to encounter the atmosphere. 232 00:12:11,530 --> 00:12:13,165 Those are small thrusters. 233 00:12:13,165 --> 00:12:16,602 They just aren't built to fight the kind of torques. 234 00:12:16,602 --> 00:12:19,672 And by the way, that's the antennae still trying 235 00:12:19,672 --> 00:12:21,607 to point at the Earth, those thrusters just aren't 236 00:12:21,607 --> 00:12:24,276 built to handle the kind of atmospheric torque 237 00:12:24,276 --> 00:12:26,245 and drag that Cassini's gonna experience. 238 00:12:26,245 --> 00:12:29,215 But for about a minute, Cassini will hang on, 239 00:12:29,215 --> 00:12:31,183 will be sampling the atmosphere, 240 00:12:31,183 --> 00:12:33,519 we'll be sending the data back as quickly as we can, 241 00:12:33,519 --> 00:12:36,489 and then finally of course, it's gonna lose the battle 242 00:12:36,489 --> 00:12:39,925 and within the next minute will be completely and totally 243 00:12:39,925 --> 00:12:43,496 vaporized, becoming part of the planet it went to explore. 244 00:12:43,496 --> 00:12:44,797 - [Gay] Just as planned. 245 00:12:44,797 --> 00:12:46,565 - As planned, just exactly the way 246 00:12:46,565 --> 00:12:48,300 we've always had it to be. 247 00:12:48,300 --> 00:12:51,237 - And so for the team, it is bittersweet. 248 00:12:51,237 --> 00:12:55,407 I mean it is sad, but there's tremendous energy here. 249 00:12:56,041 --> 00:12:57,243 - There is. 250 00:12:57,243 --> 00:12:59,378 I think we're excited, because this is 251 00:12:59,378 --> 00:13:01,680 exactly the way we always planned this. 252 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:03,916 It's sad that we're losing, you know, 253 00:13:03,916 --> 00:13:06,118 an incredible discovery machine, that's a loss. 254 00:13:06,118 --> 00:13:08,320 But it was always in the plans. 255 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,457 And now it's working exactly the way we set it out. 256 00:13:11,457 --> 00:13:13,926 The images we've seen from the last few revs 257 00:13:13,926 --> 00:13:15,694 and the science we've had from 258 00:13:15,694 --> 00:13:17,797 this entire approximal orbit has just been phenomenal. 259 00:13:17,797 --> 00:13:21,100 So the real sense here is just, alright, we got it. 260 00:13:21,100 --> 00:13:22,501 - You have, you have. - We have. 261 00:13:22,501 --> 00:13:24,303 - What a wonderful tour. - Alright, thank you. 262 00:13:24,303 --> 00:13:26,605 - Alright, well thanks so much for joining us. 263 00:13:26,605 --> 00:13:28,240 I'll let you back in the room, 264 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:29,842 I know you wanna be back in there. 265 00:13:29,842 --> 00:13:31,977 Alright, thanks Earl. - I do, thanks. 266 00:13:31,977 --> 00:13:34,647 - Meanwhile, DSN 43 in Australia 267 00:13:34,647 --> 00:13:37,616 is the antenna locked on Cassini's signal. 268 00:13:37,616 --> 00:13:40,352 And let's check the update display. 269 00:13:40,352 --> 00:13:43,622 The expected loss of signal is 4:55 AM. 270 00:13:45,591 --> 00:13:49,161 And that is about 41 minutes away from now. 271 00:13:56,001 --> 00:13:58,237 - We've managed to inspire 272 00:13:58,237 --> 00:14:00,506 a younger generation of scientists. 273 00:14:00,506 --> 00:14:04,476 And they will continue after this is over and after 274 00:14:04,476 --> 00:14:08,647 the original investigators are gone to march on for 275 00:14:10,015 --> 00:14:13,252 their own challenges for future spacecraft exploration. 276 00:14:17,890 --> 00:14:20,359 - Let's look back to what inspired the mission 277 00:14:20,359 --> 00:14:22,995 and the day Cassini arrived at Saturn, 278 00:14:22,995 --> 00:14:26,565 the Cassini-Huygens Mission was a joint effort of NASA, 279 00:14:26,565 --> 00:14:30,169 the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency. 280 00:14:30,169 --> 00:14:33,739 It was conceived after the Voyager flybys of Saturn, 281 00:14:33,739 --> 00:14:37,176 and scientists all over the world 282 00:14:37,176 --> 00:14:39,612 insisted they had to go back. 283 00:14:47,953 --> 00:14:49,922 - Hello, this is Arthur Clark, 284 00:14:49,922 --> 00:14:53,859 joining you from my home in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 285 00:14:56,262 --> 00:14:59,398 Thanks to the World Wide Web, I've been following 286 00:14:59,398 --> 00:15:03,202 the progress of Cassini-Huygens from the time 287 00:15:03,202 --> 00:15:06,038 it was launched several years ago. 288 00:15:06,038 --> 00:15:10,209 As you know, I have more than a passing interest in Saturn. 289 00:15:11,777 --> 00:15:13,846 So I'm going to keep my fingers 290 00:15:13,846 --> 00:15:17,416 crossed with what Cassini discovers. 291 00:15:17,416 --> 00:15:21,420 And who know, one day our survival on Earth 292 00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:24,857 may depend on what we discover out there. 293 00:15:54,887 --> 00:15:56,889 - [Radio Operator] Flight's going up. 294 00:15:56,889 --> 00:15:58,991 - [Co-Radio Operator] Go ahead in flight com. 295 00:15:58,991 --> 00:16:01,593 - [Radio Operator] The downloader has flattened out. 296 00:16:01,593 --> 00:16:05,664 [people applauding and cheering] 297 00:16:09,335 --> 00:16:11,437 - Okay, we have burn complete here 298 00:16:11,437 --> 00:16:14,173 for the SOI orbit insertion burn. 299 00:16:17,843 --> 00:16:20,446 - From Saturn's strong gravity pulling it in. 300 00:16:20,446 --> 00:16:23,282 SOI burn attitude or pointing direction 301 00:16:23,282 --> 00:16:26,151 and will help to acquire a signal 302 00:16:26,151 --> 00:16:29,989 before that turn actually completes. 303 00:16:29,989 --> 00:16:33,025 - Now the voice you heard announcing the arrival 304 00:16:33,025 --> 00:16:36,562 of Saturn June 30th, 2004 was the voice 305 00:16:36,562 --> 00:16:39,531 of Cassini propulsion engineer Todd Barber. 306 00:16:39,531 --> 00:16:43,469 Todd served as the team's commentator and Todd is back today 307 00:16:43,469 --> 00:16:46,271 once again serving as our team commentator 308 00:16:46,271 --> 00:16:50,442 in the same mission control room for a much different event. 309 00:16:51,643 --> 00:16:52,878 How does it feel, Todd, to be here? 310 00:16:52,878 --> 00:16:54,780 - Hi Gay, well it's great to be back. 311 00:16:54,780 --> 00:16:57,850 It's kind of cruel to age 13 years 312 00:16:57,850 --> 00:16:59,852 in two seconds and have to watch that. 313 00:16:59,852 --> 00:17:03,689 But what a demonstration of the longevity of this mission. 314 00:17:03,689 --> 00:17:06,258 As you and I sat there in 2004, we never 315 00:17:06,258 --> 00:17:09,862 dreamt we'd be here in 2017 still talking 316 00:17:09,862 --> 00:17:12,664 about Cassini and collecting science data. 317 00:17:12,664 --> 00:17:14,666 So I'm just thrilled to be here, 318 00:17:14,666 --> 00:17:18,170 even having aged some years since SOI. 319 00:17:18,170 --> 00:17:21,440 - Todd, very quickly, we're a couple of minutes behind here, 320 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,676 explain qto us why the team has gathered here 321 00:17:24,676 --> 00:17:28,647 even though you had told me that the spacecraft 322 00:17:28,647 --> 00:17:32,818 met its fate probably about 3:30, 3:30 Pacific time, 323 00:17:34,787 --> 00:17:38,257 out at Saturn, but yet the team is waiting here now 324 00:17:38,257 --> 00:17:41,026 and holding vigil, why is that? 325 00:17:41,026 --> 00:17:43,395 - Well, it's that pesky Albert Einstein and his speed 326 00:17:43,395 --> 00:17:46,698 of light speed limit, 186,000 miles per second 327 00:17:46,698 --> 00:17:48,534 or 300,000 kilometers per second. 328 00:17:48,534 --> 00:17:51,003 So Saturn is about an hour and 23 minutes 329 00:17:51,003 --> 00:17:53,906 away from us right now, one way light time. 330 00:17:53,906 --> 00:17:56,308 I'm a big sports nut, I tape a lot of games in DVR, 331 00:17:56,308 --> 00:17:59,044 and the game is still exciting if you don't know the result 332 00:17:59,044 --> 00:18:01,547 and you haven't seen it, and no one's seen the Cassini 333 00:18:01,547 --> 00:18:04,516 last bits of science come back from Saturn yet. 334 00:18:04,516 --> 00:18:06,819 It's just about to cross the orbit 335 00:18:06,819 --> 00:18:09,488 of Jupiter, there's our graphic. 336 00:18:09,488 --> 00:18:13,158 And of course Jupiter's a little different position, 337 00:18:13,158 --> 00:18:16,829 so any denizens of the solar system at Jupiter or Mars, 338 00:18:16,829 --> 00:18:20,532 they'll know Cassini's fate and last bit of data 339 00:18:20,532 --> 00:18:22,301 before we will on Earth. 340 00:18:22,301 --> 00:18:23,936 So we're holding vigil here. 341 00:18:23,936 --> 00:18:28,107 We also have this display, kind of like gauges in your car. 342 00:18:29,575 --> 00:18:32,377 This is the speed notice, it's 63,000 miles per hour 343 00:18:32,377 --> 00:18:36,215 and climbing as we descend into Saturn's gravity well. 344 00:18:36,215 --> 00:18:39,551 And on the right side is the distance from the cloud tops, 345 00:18:39,551 --> 00:18:41,753 and that's just shrinking, it's gonna head down 346 00:18:41,753 --> 00:18:45,924 over the next 37 minutes until we meet those cloud tops 347 00:18:47,292 --> 00:18:49,361 and say goodbye to our beautiful spacecraft out at Saturn. 348 00:18:49,361 --> 00:18:51,396 - And Todd, help us understand 349 00:18:51,396 --> 00:18:53,632 how the team will be monitoring this. 350 00:18:53,632 --> 00:18:57,569 - Yes, we've got a few ways, there's a display from, 351 00:18:57,569 --> 00:19:00,205 well here's our radio signal. 352 00:19:00,205 --> 00:19:04,209 So this is the carrier frequency, and what I like to point 353 00:19:04,209 --> 00:19:08,280 out here, the peak in the middle, this is like the loudness 354 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,451 or the signal strength, and at the Cassini frequency that 355 00:19:13,886 --> 00:19:16,388 it's talking, we have two displays by the way, X band 356 00:19:16,388 --> 00:19:18,924 and S band, those are just two different radio frequencies. 357 00:19:18,924 --> 00:19:21,393 So if you think in your car radio of tuning 358 00:19:21,393 --> 00:19:23,795 to different frequencies, that's like moving 359 00:19:23,795 --> 00:19:26,265 along the X axis there, the horizontal axis. 360 00:19:26,265 --> 00:19:28,834 And we're getting a nice big strong booming signal 361 00:19:28,834 --> 00:19:30,936 from Cassini on both those axes. 362 00:19:30,936 --> 00:19:35,107 But as we come into the atmosphere and turn away from Earth, 363 00:19:36,542 --> 00:19:38,844 our thrusters can't keep anymore with the torques, 364 00:19:38,844 --> 00:19:40,946 those will flat line and that's 365 00:19:40,946 --> 00:19:43,549 when we say goodbye to Cassini. 366 00:19:43,549 --> 00:19:46,585 However, the key is to keep the data coming 367 00:19:46,585 --> 00:19:49,254 down to Earth and get those precious 368 00:19:49,254 --> 00:19:52,491 last few bits of science data from Saturn. 369 00:19:52,491 --> 00:19:56,495 Our first sniff of the upper Saturn atmosphere. 370 00:19:56,495 --> 00:19:58,230 And boy we're excited for that. 371 00:19:58,230 --> 00:19:59,932 - Alright, well thanks Todd, 372 00:19:59,932 --> 00:20:01,900 we will check back with you later. 373 00:20:01,900 --> 00:20:04,703 And one of the signals Todd showed you is 374 00:20:04,703 --> 00:20:07,372 part of a computer visualization tool 375 00:20:07,372 --> 00:20:09,741 we call Eyes on the Solar System. 376 00:20:09,741 --> 00:20:13,212 This JPL computer simulation software is based on real data 377 00:20:13,212 --> 00:20:16,081 from missions and is something you can download 378 00:20:16,081 --> 00:20:20,252 onto your own computer and use to follow along this morning. 379 00:20:21,587 --> 00:20:24,623 Just go to eyes.nasa.gov, download the app, 380 00:20:25,490 --> 00:20:27,192 and click on Cassini's Tour. 381 00:20:29,228 --> 00:20:32,297 Here are two family photos we'd like to share. 382 00:20:32,297 --> 00:20:36,301 The top one was taken on June 21st, 2017. 383 00:20:36,301 --> 00:20:38,804 It's the Cassini team and alumni, 384 00:20:38,804 --> 00:20:41,773 and they filled the staircase on the mall here. 385 00:20:41,773 --> 00:20:43,809 Most of them are engineers. 386 00:20:43,809 --> 00:20:47,579 On the bottom photo, and this one was just taken just a few 387 00:20:47,579 --> 00:20:51,717 days ago, it's the science team, and they were at Cal Tech. 388 00:20:51,717 --> 00:20:54,720 The team includes scientists from all over the world. 389 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,289 Over the years thousands of people have worked 390 00:20:57,289 --> 00:21:00,359 on this mission, in fact there are so many members of the 391 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,363 Cassini family, we couldn't fit all of them here at JPL. 392 00:21:04,363 --> 00:21:07,599 It's why there's a big crowd at Beckman Auditorium 393 00:21:07,599 --> 00:21:10,802 at Cal Tech in Pasadena, and that is where Cassini 394 00:21:10,802 --> 00:21:13,905 science team member Morgan Cable is right now. 395 00:21:13,905 --> 00:21:16,742 Morgan, what is it like out there? 396 00:21:18,710 --> 00:21:21,380 - Hi Gay, well here at Cal Tech, 397 00:21:22,547 --> 00:21:24,549 you can hear it behind me, right? 398 00:21:24,549 --> 00:21:26,184 This is a historic moment, 399 00:21:26,184 --> 00:21:28,487 and I think the mood reflects that. 400 00:21:28,487 --> 00:21:31,123 But it's also like a family reunion. 401 00:21:31,123 --> 00:21:34,393 We're here with our other fellow Cassini members 402 00:21:34,393 --> 00:21:37,896 where same people we haven't seen in a long time 403 00:21:37,896 --> 00:21:41,233 for some cases, and it's just been wonderful 404 00:21:41,233 --> 00:21:44,636 to share these memories, to revel in the excitement. 405 00:21:44,636 --> 00:21:46,505 This is a celebration of an 406 00:21:46,505 --> 00:21:50,409 amazing mission and an incredible legacy. 407 00:21:50,409 --> 00:21:51,877 - Morgan, 408 00:21:51,877 --> 00:21:53,812 you're one of the scientists. - So back to you at JPL. 409 00:21:53,812 --> 00:21:56,315 - You're one of the scientists out there. 410 00:21:56,315 --> 00:22:00,218 I mean for you, you're probably being very reflective. 411 00:22:00,218 --> 00:22:04,323 What was one of the highlights for you this mission? 412 00:22:05,691 --> 00:22:09,061 - For me personally, the discoveries at Enceladus have 413 00:22:09,061 --> 00:22:12,798 really revolutionized our view of where we might find life 414 00:22:12,798 --> 00:22:15,667 or at least the conditions suitable for life 415 00:22:15,667 --> 00:22:18,737 in not only our solar system, but the universe. 416 00:22:18,737 --> 00:22:21,873 We've learned now that there are places where liquid water 417 00:22:21,873 --> 00:22:25,344 and the other ingredients for life as we know it to exist, 418 00:22:25,344 --> 00:22:29,047 chemistry and energy, exist in places like Enceladus. 419 00:22:29,047 --> 00:22:31,450 And that's thanks to the Cassini mission, 420 00:22:31,450 --> 00:22:34,820 which flew through the plume of Enceladus multiple times. 421 00:22:34,820 --> 00:22:38,623 This means that life may not only exist in the habitable 422 00:22:38,623 --> 00:22:42,060 zone around other stars, but now we can start to look 423 00:22:42,060 --> 00:22:44,996 for places like Enceladus or Europa elsewhere 424 00:22:44,996 --> 00:22:47,999 in the universe and extend our search to try 425 00:22:47,999 --> 00:22:51,870 to find that amazing discovery of life somewhere else. 426 00:22:51,870 --> 00:22:54,272 - Alright, well we will be checking 427 00:22:54,272 --> 00:22:56,908 back with you, Morgan, later on the show. 428 00:22:56,908 --> 00:22:58,276 Thanks for that report. 429 00:22:58,276 --> 00:23:00,779 It is about 23 minutes past the hour. 430 00:23:00,779 --> 00:23:03,682 You're watching live coverage marking the final moments 431 00:23:03,682 --> 00:23:07,119 of Cassini on NASA TV, the Deep Space Network 432 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:09,554 is awaiting the loss of signal from the spacecraft 433 00:23:09,554 --> 00:23:12,691 from DSN antenna 43 in Australia. 434 00:23:12,691 --> 00:23:16,395 And let's go to Cassini's final hour display. 435 00:23:16,395 --> 00:23:19,631 At this point the spacecraft has sent us data 436 00:23:19,631 --> 00:23:23,702 from about the 50 degree north latitude mark. 437 00:23:23,702 --> 00:23:26,872 And loss of signal should be coming 438 00:23:26,872 --> 00:23:29,040 about 32 minutes from now. 439 00:23:33,512 --> 00:23:36,248 [dramatic music] 440 00:24:33,171 --> 00:24:35,907 Beautiful images from Cassini. 441 00:24:35,907 --> 00:24:37,876 The Cassini-Huygens' mission made 442 00:24:37,876 --> 00:24:39,811 so many historic discoveries. 443 00:24:39,811 --> 00:24:41,713 Think about it, the Huygens probe sent 444 00:24:41,713 --> 00:24:44,115 back details of an alien world on Titan, 445 00:24:44,115 --> 00:24:47,185 a world that appears to be very similar to Earth. 446 00:24:47,185 --> 00:24:49,654 It found jets spraying water, ice, 447 00:24:49,654 --> 00:24:52,324 and organics from the south pole of Enceladus, 448 00:24:52,324 --> 00:24:55,894 revealing an interior ocean where there could be life. 449 00:24:55,894 --> 00:24:59,564 Over and over again, the mission revealed scientific wonders 450 00:24:59,564 --> 00:25:02,234 about Saturn, its rings and moons, 451 00:25:02,234 --> 00:25:06,238 and it hasn't stopped, at least not yet. 452 00:25:06,238 --> 00:25:09,608 With me now is Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker. 453 00:25:09,608 --> 00:25:12,310 This mission was determined to send 454 00:25:12,310 --> 00:25:15,113 down science right down to the very end. 455 00:25:15,113 --> 00:25:18,016 - That's right Gay, to the very last second. 456 00:25:18,016 --> 00:25:21,853 - So Earl told us just a little while ago that overnight, 457 00:25:21,853 --> 00:25:25,757 the spacecraft sent back the last picture show, 458 00:25:27,926 --> 00:25:31,096 it's been called, can you describe what those are? 459 00:25:31,096 --> 00:25:33,765 - Okay, well let's go to the very first image, image A. 460 00:25:33,765 --> 00:25:36,334 As part of the last picture show the first thing we did 461 00:25:36,334 --> 00:25:39,571 is we made a color mosaic, and these are just a couple 462 00:25:39,571 --> 00:25:42,541 of pictures from that mosaic, we'll stitch those together 463 00:25:42,541 --> 00:25:45,343 and have a beautiful image of Saturn 464 00:25:45,343 --> 00:25:47,412 plus the rings for the last time. 465 00:25:47,412 --> 00:25:51,182 We go to image C, that's a movie of Enceladus 466 00:25:51,182 --> 00:25:55,353 actually setting behind the limb of Saturn. 467 00:25:56,521 --> 00:25:58,356 - [Gay] And explain to me how the team decided 468 00:25:58,356 --> 00:26:01,426 to come up with this imagery and this selection. 469 00:26:01,426 --> 00:26:04,162 - Well, there's a lot of science in these images, 470 00:26:04,162 --> 00:26:06,798 so we wanted to do science, oh there's Enceladus, 471 00:26:06,798 --> 00:26:09,200 setting behind the lumament of Saturn. 472 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,136 So we're saying goodbye to Enceladus, 473 00:26:11,136 --> 00:26:14,205 and taking a last look at that particular world. 474 00:26:14,205 --> 00:26:16,775 And so we wanted to sorta do a survey, 475 00:26:16,775 --> 00:26:18,710 look at each of these key targets, 476 00:26:18,710 --> 00:26:21,846 collect picture postcards for our Cassini scrapbook. 477 00:26:21,846 --> 00:26:23,782 So these will be the last pictures 478 00:26:23,782 --> 00:26:25,684 that we'll put in our scrapbook. 479 00:26:25,684 --> 00:26:29,321 If we look at image E, that's a true color image of Titan. 480 00:26:29,321 --> 00:26:32,090 And you can see the lakes up in the north. 481 00:26:32,090 --> 00:26:36,061 Image F shows this in false color, there's a UV filter 482 00:26:36,061 --> 00:26:39,497 as part of image F and the lakes really pop out. 483 00:26:39,497 --> 00:26:43,401 And you can also see that bluish haze at the edge of Titan. 484 00:26:43,401 --> 00:26:46,004 You know, Titan has this thick nitrogen atmosphere. 485 00:26:46,004 --> 00:26:48,940 And we also took some pictures of the rings, Gay, 486 00:26:48,940 --> 00:26:51,309 if we go to image G, we're looking 487 00:26:51,309 --> 00:26:54,045 for propellers in this particular image. 488 00:26:54,045 --> 00:26:57,382 You can just see a hint of it above that dark gap. 489 00:26:57,382 --> 00:27:00,251 If we go to image H, that's a blowup, 490 00:27:00,251 --> 00:27:03,622 and see that little two-armed propellor, 491 00:27:03,622 --> 00:27:06,291 it's that little bright feature just above the dark gap. 492 00:27:06,291 --> 00:27:08,860 There's a collection of ring particles that are 493 00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:10,962 large enough that are trying to open their own gap, 494 00:27:10,962 --> 00:27:14,032 and they create what looks like an airplane propellor. 495 00:27:14,032 --> 00:27:17,035 And they have fun names of aviators. 496 00:27:17,035 --> 00:27:20,805 If we go to image I as part of the sequence, 497 00:27:20,805 --> 00:27:24,376 we're looking at the tiny moon Daphnis, 498 00:27:24,376 --> 00:27:26,344 that's the Keeler Gap, and you can see 499 00:27:26,344 --> 00:27:28,246 those crinkly edges along the gap. 500 00:27:28,246 --> 00:27:31,816 That's created by Daphnis, a wake as it goes through 501 00:27:31,816 --> 00:27:35,253 that system, and you can see the beautiful density waves, 502 00:27:35,253 --> 00:27:38,123 the interaction between the rings and the satellites also 503 00:27:38,123 --> 00:27:42,293 as those bright features in our last look at the propellors. 504 00:27:43,028 --> 00:27:44,996 And finally image J. 505 00:27:44,996 --> 00:27:47,799 This is an image looking at Saturn in a place 506 00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:51,970 where Cassini will be entering, so one of our last views, 507 00:27:53,071 --> 00:27:55,040 our very last pictures, of Saturn. 508 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,841 And you can think of Cassini 509 00:27:56,841 --> 00:27:58,977 as basically running a marathon. 510 00:27:58,977 --> 00:28:00,812 For 13 years we've been running 511 00:28:00,812 --> 00:28:03,415 a marathon of scientific discovery. 512 00:28:03,415 --> 00:28:05,583 And we're on the last lap. 513 00:28:05,583 --> 00:28:08,019 And so we're here today to cheer 514 00:28:08,019 --> 00:28:10,722 as Cassini finishes that race. 515 00:28:10,722 --> 00:28:14,893 - Now many of these images and what the spacecraft 516 00:28:16,327 --> 00:28:19,230 will be doing right now, all of this is unknown territory. 517 00:28:20,331 --> 00:28:22,000 The spacecraft has never been here before. 518 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,469 - That's right, we're flying into Saturn. 519 00:28:24,469 --> 00:28:26,938 We're deeper than we've ever flown before. 520 00:28:26,938 --> 00:28:29,507 We have eight of our scientific instruments on. 521 00:28:29,507 --> 00:28:31,476 They key instrument is the ion 522 00:28:31,476 --> 00:28:33,411 and neutral mass spectrometer. 523 00:28:33,411 --> 00:28:36,448 Basically coming in we've oriented the instrument to sample 524 00:28:36,448 --> 00:28:39,150 the atmosphere of Saturn, which it's doing right now, 525 00:28:39,150 --> 00:28:42,120 deeper and deeper, until in the very final second 526 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,389 as Cassini fights to hold attitude, 527 00:28:44,389 --> 00:28:48,593 it'll send back those last very valuable packets of data. 528 00:28:49,728 --> 00:28:51,930 And who knows how many PhD theses might 529 00:28:51,930 --> 00:28:55,667 be in just those final seconds of data. 530 00:28:55,667 --> 00:28:59,237 - Right, we will have scientists and students 531 00:28:59,237 --> 00:29:02,774 poring over this data for decades to come, probably. 532 00:29:02,774 --> 00:29:05,477 - Right, and looking at the hydrogen to helium ratio 533 00:29:05,477 --> 00:29:07,879 to help us understand how Saturn formed, 534 00:29:07,879 --> 00:29:10,782 how Saturn's evolving, and who knows what 535 00:29:10,782 --> 00:29:13,318 else we'll see as we go into the atmosphere. 536 00:29:13,318 --> 00:29:15,887 - What great science leaves still ahead. 537 00:29:15,887 --> 00:29:18,523 Alright, well Linda, thanks for joining us. 538 00:29:18,523 --> 00:29:20,225 - [Linda] Yeah, glad to be here. 539 00:29:20,225 --> 00:29:23,061 - You're watching live coverage of Cassini's 540 00:29:23,061 --> 00:29:25,663 final hour from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 541 00:29:25,663 --> 00:29:28,299 JPL is a NASA center in La Canada Flintridge, 542 00:29:28,299 --> 00:29:30,502 and Pasadena, California, and managed by 543 00:29:30,502 --> 00:29:32,904 the California Institute of Technology. 544 00:29:32,904 --> 00:29:37,008 Let's check out our display, we are now about 545 00:29:37,008 --> 00:29:41,179 just a little under 26 minutes from the end of mission. 546 00:29:46,117 --> 00:29:48,686 [upbeat music] 547 00:30:06,938 --> 00:30:10,008 - Well, the Cassini team considers itself a family. 548 00:30:10,008 --> 00:30:13,711 A team that works together and plays together. 549 00:30:13,711 --> 00:30:15,780 And here is one example. 550 00:30:15,780 --> 00:30:19,617 The Cassini Virtual Singers, they have a knack for 551 00:30:19,617 --> 00:30:23,788 putting a Cassini spin on just about any showtune. 552 00:30:25,690 --> 00:30:28,793 And I saw Todd Barber in that group. 553 00:30:28,793 --> 00:30:32,197 Todd, it is a very close-knit group, 554 00:30:32,197 --> 00:30:34,632 and a multi-generational group. 555 00:30:34,632 --> 00:30:37,969 I mean some people have spent their entire careers 556 00:30:37,969 --> 00:30:40,138 on this mission, and others are just 557 00:30:40,138 --> 00:30:43,274 starting their careers on Cassini. 558 00:30:43,274 --> 00:30:46,177 Todd Barber is standing by with one of the younger members 559 00:30:46,177 --> 00:30:49,614 of team, Guidance and Control Engineer Joni Stupak, 560 00:30:49,614 --> 00:30:52,917 who started her career with Cassini, right? 561 00:30:52,917 --> 00:30:56,020 - Yes, that's right, and I've been on since before launch, 562 00:30:56,020 --> 00:30:57,822 but it's so wonderful to have 563 00:30:57,822 --> 00:30:59,424 young engineers join the project. 564 00:30:59,424 --> 00:31:02,527 Welcome Joni, and Joni is an attitude control 565 00:31:02,527 --> 00:31:04,963 engineer on the project, and can you explain 566 00:31:04,963 --> 00:31:06,764 what that means to our viewers? 567 00:31:06,764 --> 00:31:08,233 - Sure, absolutely. 568 00:31:08,233 --> 00:31:10,368 So I and my team are in charge 569 00:31:10,368 --> 00:31:13,004 of the orientation of the spacecraft. 570 00:31:13,004 --> 00:31:15,940 So we point all of the cameras the antenna. 571 00:31:15,940 --> 00:31:18,576 - That's great, and you have a particularly 572 00:31:18,576 --> 00:31:20,612 important role this evening, right? 573 00:31:20,612 --> 00:31:22,513 Or this morning, I guess I should say. 574 00:31:22,513 --> 00:31:25,216 - Absolutely, so as Earl and Linda both alluded to, 575 00:31:25,216 --> 00:31:29,254 we want to get every last possible second of information, 576 00:31:29,254 --> 00:31:31,322 which means our antenna needs to be pointed 577 00:31:31,322 --> 00:31:33,791 towards Earth for as long as we possibly can. 578 00:31:33,791 --> 00:31:35,426 As we enter into the atmosphere, 579 00:31:35,426 --> 00:31:37,495 Saturn is gonna start trying to tug us away. 580 00:31:37,495 --> 00:31:39,564 So we wanna hold the antenna steady 581 00:31:39,564 --> 00:31:41,532 as we possibly can for that whole time. 582 00:31:41,532 --> 00:31:42,767 - [Todd] And how do you do that? 583 00:31:42,767 --> 00:31:44,235 - We have little engines or thrusters 584 00:31:44,235 --> 00:31:46,204 that we use to hold us steady. 585 00:31:46,204 --> 00:31:49,874 - [Todd] Wonderful, and basically we will lose 586 00:31:49,874 --> 00:31:52,377 the battle with Saturn's atmosphere, though. 587 00:31:52,377 --> 00:31:54,045 - [Joni] We will, and if we go to the graphic here, 588 00:31:54,045 --> 00:31:56,748 we see the thrusters firing as we try 589 00:31:56,748 --> 00:31:59,684 and hold that antenna for as long as we can. 590 00:31:59,684 --> 00:32:01,853 And that will last for only about a minute, 591 00:32:01,853 --> 00:32:03,888 until the thrusters are finally overwhelmed 592 00:32:03,888 --> 00:32:05,823 and we can no longer point the antenna. 593 00:32:05,823 --> 00:32:07,625 - Wow, that's amazing. 594 00:32:07,625 --> 00:32:10,094 But those precious seconds of science data 595 00:32:10,094 --> 00:32:13,932 are worth every thruster pulse we put on the-- 596 00:32:13,932 --> 00:32:15,700 - Every second, yeah. 597 00:32:16,834 --> 00:32:18,803 We're learning all about Saturn's atmosphere 598 00:32:18,803 --> 00:32:21,105 with all the instruments we can as we go in. 599 00:32:21,105 --> 00:32:22,540 - So yeah. - That's good. 600 00:32:22,540 --> 00:32:24,075 - We wanna point as long as we can. 601 00:32:24,075 --> 00:32:26,244 - [Todd] So you started your career on this mission, 602 00:32:26,244 --> 00:32:28,379 how are you feeling tonight, knowing we have 603 00:32:28,379 --> 00:32:30,248 to say goodbye to our beautiful spacecraft? 604 00:32:30,248 --> 00:32:31,849 - It's definitely bittersweet, yeah, I started my career, 605 00:32:31,849 --> 00:32:34,953 I was in high school when Cassini arrived at Saturn. 606 00:32:34,953 --> 00:32:38,189 So you know, it's really exciting and I'm really 607 00:32:38,189 --> 00:32:40,692 proud to have worked on such, you know, 608 00:32:40,692 --> 00:32:42,894 incredible mission, part of such a wonderful family. 609 00:32:42,894 --> 00:32:45,029 But it's gonna be sad, you know, I'm used to checking how 610 00:32:45,029 --> 00:32:47,799 the spacecraft is feeling every morning and things like 611 00:32:47,799 --> 00:32:50,568 that, so it'll be a little sad to not have that anymore. 612 00:32:50,568 --> 00:32:52,470 - [Todd] I definitely agree there, 613 00:32:52,470 --> 00:32:54,205 and we're so grateful for your contributions 614 00:32:54,205 --> 00:32:56,274 and all the young engineers on the project. 615 00:32:56,274 --> 00:32:57,575 As well as the veterans that have been 616 00:32:57,575 --> 00:32:59,310 around since launch, thank you Joni. 617 00:32:59,310 --> 00:33:00,378 - What'll you be able to do without the veterans? 618 00:33:00,378 --> 00:33:01,546 [both laugh] 619 00:33:01,546 --> 00:33:03,348 - We got a few tricks up our sleeves. 620 00:33:03,348 --> 00:33:06,918 So if we can head back to the radio science display 621 00:33:06,918 --> 00:33:08,419 and check and see, 622 00:33:09,988 --> 00:33:14,158 still looking good, so we have a strong X and S band signal. 623 00:33:15,326 --> 00:33:17,795 So as Earl mentioned, our fate is sealed, 624 00:33:17,795 --> 00:33:21,132 we've met our planetary protection requirement. 625 00:33:21,132 --> 00:33:23,601 We know we're gonna impact Saturn and take care of that. 626 00:33:23,601 --> 00:33:25,470 The next thing that's important is to hold 627 00:33:25,470 --> 00:33:27,438 that signal as long as possible and get 628 00:33:27,438 --> 00:33:30,508 every last precious bit of science data. 629 00:33:30,508 --> 00:33:32,877 So so far so good, Gay, back to you. 630 00:33:32,877 --> 00:33:34,812 - Thanks Todd, thanks Joni. 631 00:33:34,812 --> 00:33:37,315 It is about 33 minutes past the hour 632 00:33:37,315 --> 00:33:41,486 and the estimated time of loss of signal is 4:55 AM Pacific. 633 00:33:46,090 --> 00:33:48,860 [dramatic music] 634 00:34:45,316 --> 00:34:47,785 The Cassini-Huygens mission has been 635 00:34:47,785 --> 00:34:51,055 an epic adventure around the Saturn system. 636 00:34:51,055 --> 00:34:55,226 It has sent home mountains of science data, stunning images. 637 00:34:56,294 --> 00:34:58,296 The spacecraft performed beautifully. 638 00:34:58,296 --> 00:35:01,999 The mission fulfilled its goals and then some. 639 00:35:01,999 --> 00:35:06,170 Members say they couldn't have asked for anything more. 640 00:35:07,572 --> 00:35:10,308 [dramatic music] 641 00:35:14,979 --> 00:35:17,815 - [Radio Operator] This is Titan launch control. 642 00:35:17,815 --> 00:35:20,051 - [Man] All systems are go. 643 00:35:28,826 --> 00:35:32,063 - I've worked on the Cassini project for almost 30 years. 644 00:35:32,063 --> 00:35:34,899 And that's an entire Saturn orbit. 645 00:35:36,134 --> 00:35:39,704 - The beauty of Cassini is the design. 646 00:35:39,704 --> 00:35:43,441 It's the largest outer planetary spacecraft every built. 647 00:35:43,441 --> 00:35:45,510 12 different instruments. 648 00:35:45,510 --> 00:35:49,413 The Huygens probe, built by the European Space Agency. 649 00:35:49,413 --> 00:35:52,016 It's just a monumental machine. 650 00:35:55,586 --> 00:35:57,588 - [Man] Three, two, one, 651 00:35:58,789 --> 00:36:01,058 and liftoff of the Cassini spacecraft 652 00:36:01,058 --> 00:36:03,828 on a billion mile trip to Saturn. 653 00:36:22,780 --> 00:36:26,617 - We turned the Cassini cameras down to look at the rings, 654 00:36:26,617 --> 00:36:30,354 revealing them in a way we had never seen them before. 655 00:36:30,354 --> 00:36:32,790 I remember coming back to JPL early in the morning 656 00:36:32,790 --> 00:36:34,892 just so I could be there. 657 00:36:36,861 --> 00:36:40,798 And watch those pictures one by one come down. 658 00:36:40,798 --> 00:36:43,100 And I felt like I could almost reach out and touch 659 00:36:43,100 --> 00:36:45,770 the rings that were right there. 660 00:36:53,377 --> 00:36:55,780 - We had been collaborating with the Europeans 661 00:36:55,780 --> 00:36:58,082 ever since launch to make sure that we had 662 00:36:58,082 --> 00:37:00,451 everything right for Huygens. 663 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,556 The Huygens probe was dropped onto Titan. 664 00:37:05,556 --> 00:37:08,559 These are images from billion miles away 665 00:37:08,559 --> 00:37:10,561 on the surface of Titan. 666 00:37:12,029 --> 00:37:14,699 They're boulders, there were pebbles, in a dry lake bed. 667 00:37:14,699 --> 00:37:18,769 And I still get goosebumps just talking about it. 668 00:37:21,339 --> 00:37:24,008 - Looking back at what we were planning to do 669 00:37:24,008 --> 00:37:27,778 in those first four years, we've gone so far beyond that. 670 00:37:27,778 --> 00:37:30,681 - We remapped our investigations to concentrate 671 00:37:30,681 --> 00:37:33,751 on the questions that Cassini raised. 672 00:37:35,620 --> 00:37:37,922 - Two of our instruments actually sampled 673 00:37:37,922 --> 00:37:41,292 the plume of Enceladus as we flew through. 674 00:37:41,292 --> 00:37:43,761 Tasting the gas, measuring the particles, 675 00:37:43,761 --> 00:37:46,497 in a way that we hadn't planned. 676 00:37:46,497 --> 00:37:48,766 Cassini has changed the paradigm 677 00:37:48,766 --> 00:37:50,935 of where we might look for life. 678 00:37:50,935 --> 00:37:53,704 That will be one of her legacies. 679 00:37:55,273 --> 00:37:57,842 - 13 years of exploring Saturn. 680 00:37:57,842 --> 00:38:00,845 It really is just an awesome mission. 681 00:38:12,256 --> 00:38:14,058 - Alright, well joining me now is 682 00:38:14,058 --> 00:38:17,495 NASA Director of Planetary Science Jim Greene. 683 00:38:17,495 --> 00:38:20,998 Some of Cassini's greatest accomplishments 684 00:38:20,998 --> 00:38:24,168 came as big surprises, didn't they? 685 00:38:24,168 --> 00:38:26,103 - They did, absolutely. 686 00:38:26,103 --> 00:38:28,072 You know, one of the ones that's pretty 687 00:38:28,072 --> 00:38:30,107 spectacular obviously is Enceladus. 688 00:38:30,107 --> 00:38:33,077 Now you may not really understand the importance 689 00:38:33,077 --> 00:38:37,248 of having a spacecraft with all kinds of instruments, 690 00:38:38,683 --> 00:38:41,152 including magnetometers and plasma weight instruments. 691 00:38:41,152 --> 00:38:44,655 But it really discovered the plumes by magnetometer. 692 00:38:44,655 --> 00:38:48,659 And so as the spacecraft was doing a flyby, 693 00:38:48,659 --> 00:38:51,595 what was happening is the plumes were 694 00:38:51,595 --> 00:38:55,032 being blasted out of the tiger stripes. 695 00:38:55,032 --> 00:38:57,301 They were being ionized and they were 696 00:38:57,301 --> 00:38:59,270 loading down the field, dragging it by. 697 00:38:59,270 --> 00:39:01,505 And so the magnetometer saw the wave 698 00:39:01,505 --> 00:39:04,675 of the field in a place that they hadn't expected. 699 00:39:04,675 --> 00:39:06,544 And that gave a hint that something 700 00:39:06,544 --> 00:39:08,446 was going on and it needed to be looked at. 701 00:39:08,446 --> 00:39:11,682 And so then the next pass they came up with the idea, 702 00:39:11,682 --> 00:39:13,718 well let's look at it in back light. 703 00:39:13,718 --> 00:39:15,820 And wow, there were the plumes. 704 00:39:15,820 --> 00:39:19,657 And that started then a series of new orbits, 705 00:39:19,657 --> 00:39:23,060 new trajectories, to try to go through and taste the plumes 706 00:39:23,060 --> 00:39:24,829 and get even more details about 707 00:39:24,829 --> 00:39:27,098 what's happening at Enceladus. 708 00:39:27,098 --> 00:39:30,334 - And how does this discovery sort of change 709 00:39:30,334 --> 00:39:34,305 the way we look for life in the solar system? 710 00:39:34,305 --> 00:39:38,476 - Well, this is really a calling, if you will, 711 00:39:39,643 --> 00:39:41,445 of hey, you're gonna have to come back. 712 00:39:41,445 --> 00:39:45,449 Because there's several things we know about life. 713 00:39:45,449 --> 00:39:48,619 One, it metabolizes, that means it takes in a liquid, 714 00:39:48,619 --> 00:39:51,622 it then uses that to extract energy 715 00:39:51,622 --> 00:39:54,325 and then the liquid is used to extract the waste. 716 00:39:54,325 --> 00:39:58,262 But then it evolves, and then it also reproduces. 717 00:39:58,262 --> 00:40:01,065 Well I can't measure any of those from our spacecraft 718 00:40:01,065 --> 00:40:03,134 other than going after the water. 719 00:40:03,134 --> 00:40:05,870 So once we see an area that has water, 720 00:40:05,870 --> 00:40:08,639 then we know it has a possibility 721 00:40:08,639 --> 00:40:11,175 of being a habitable environment. 722 00:40:11,175 --> 00:40:14,278 - And transitioning to the other big story, 723 00:40:14,278 --> 00:40:18,115 also from Cassini, is another moon, Titan. 724 00:40:18,115 --> 00:40:19,483 - Oh yeah, Titan. 725 00:40:19,483 --> 00:40:21,552 What a beautiful moon this is. 726 00:40:21,552 --> 00:40:23,954 You know, it's bigger than the planet Mercury. 727 00:40:23,954 --> 00:40:26,690 Its atmosphere is actually a significant one. 728 00:40:26,690 --> 00:40:29,660 It's twice the pressure that we have here on Earth. 729 00:40:29,660 --> 00:40:32,930 It's similar in the sense that it has a lot of nitrogen. 730 00:40:32,930 --> 00:40:34,765 In fact it's dominated by nitrogen. 731 00:40:34,765 --> 00:40:37,435 But it also has liquid on its surface, 732 00:40:37,435 --> 00:40:39,470 which we know now is methane. 733 00:40:39,470 --> 00:40:43,641 And there's a hydrological cycle of evaporation, 734 00:40:44,842 --> 00:40:47,144 transport, rain, and then new lakes 735 00:40:47,144 --> 00:40:49,580 are forming in other locations on the moon. 736 00:40:49,580 --> 00:40:51,882 - And that's an incredible science legacy, 737 00:40:51,882 --> 00:40:55,853 but Titan also helped us with an engineering legacy as well. 738 00:40:55,853 --> 00:40:57,288 - Oh, absolutely. 739 00:40:57,288 --> 00:41:00,825 The concept of using Titan to do lunar, 740 00:41:00,825 --> 00:41:03,227 or to do gravity assist swing bys 741 00:41:03,227 --> 00:41:06,330 that then enable the spacecraft to get 742 00:41:06,330 --> 00:41:09,500 into different orbits is a fabulous concept. 743 00:41:09,500 --> 00:41:12,570 Because while we're doing that, you know, 744 00:41:12,570 --> 00:41:14,872 and here's the Koosh ball, as we say, 745 00:41:14,872 --> 00:41:16,574 all these spectacular flybys 746 00:41:16,574 --> 00:41:18,976 allow us to look at Titan in detail. 747 00:41:18,976 --> 00:41:22,813 So from multiple flybys we can get a global view 748 00:41:22,813 --> 00:41:26,684 of that moon, and we're using that same concept 749 00:41:26,684 --> 00:41:30,855 at Jupiter with another moon called Europa. 750 00:41:31,722 --> 00:41:33,624 - Alright, well before we go, 751 00:41:33,624 --> 00:41:36,293 I wanted to bring up the e-book. 752 00:41:36,293 --> 00:41:39,463 Because one of the most fantastic things 753 00:41:39,463 --> 00:41:41,932 about this mission has been the imagery, 754 00:41:41,932 --> 00:41:43,901 could you tell us a little bit about that? 755 00:41:43,901 --> 00:41:46,971 - Well you know, we really needed to make sure 756 00:41:46,971 --> 00:41:51,141 that we had wonderfully described and beautifully 757 00:41:52,309 --> 00:41:55,479 set images that were accessible to everyone. 758 00:41:56,814 --> 00:42:00,351 And after you know, 450,000 plus images, 759 00:42:00,351 --> 00:42:03,487 it's so hard to pick, but you know, we were able 760 00:42:03,487 --> 00:42:07,658 to go back in, get 100 beautiful images or more, 761 00:42:07,658 --> 00:42:09,894 and videos and all kinds of-- 762 00:42:09,894 --> 00:42:11,762 - And there's a link. - Yeah. 763 00:42:11,762 --> 00:42:13,731 - [Gay] Where if you want to get it, 764 00:42:13,731 --> 00:42:16,767 you can download it off the internet. 765 00:42:16,767 --> 00:42:18,769 - [Jim] Nasa.gov/ebooks. 766 00:42:18,769 --> 00:42:21,605 - Alright, well Jim, thanks for joining us. 767 00:42:21,605 --> 00:42:23,908 Thanks for taking time for us. - Oh, my pleasure. 768 00:42:23,908 --> 00:42:26,210 - And I know you wanna get back into that control room. 769 00:42:26,210 --> 00:42:27,378 - [Jim] Absolutely. 770 00:42:27,378 --> 00:42:30,014 - Thank you. - Thank you. 771 00:42:30,014 --> 00:42:32,783 [dramatic music] 772 00:44:35,272 --> 00:44:38,042 - Well we are a little over 10 minutes away 773 00:44:38,042 --> 00:44:40,878 from the loss of signal, so we will be focusing 774 00:44:40,878 --> 00:44:44,048 our attention to the control room very soon now. 775 00:44:44,048 --> 00:44:46,750 But before we do, let's take a moment 776 00:44:46,750 --> 00:44:49,319 to chat with JPL director Mike Watkins. 777 00:44:49,319 --> 00:44:52,222 So Mike, how are you feeling? 778 00:44:52,222 --> 00:44:53,757 - Well first good morning. 779 00:44:53,757 --> 00:44:55,459 - [Gay] [laughs] Yes, very early morning. 780 00:44:55,459 --> 00:44:56,894 - We always tend to do these events somehow 781 00:44:56,894 --> 00:44:58,395 at three in the morning or five in the morning. 782 00:44:58,395 --> 00:45:00,164 - [Gay] Why do they do that? 783 00:45:00,164 --> 00:45:01,865 - But you know, it's kind of a bittersweet 784 00:45:01,865 --> 00:45:03,467 event for all of us I think. 785 00:45:03,467 --> 00:45:05,703 For me personally it's more sweet than bitter, 786 00:45:05,703 --> 00:45:08,472 because Cassini's been such a fantastic mission. 787 00:45:08,472 --> 00:45:11,075 But I think you know, one of the important things about 788 00:45:11,075 --> 00:45:13,744 these events is to celebrate the incredible hard work, 789 00:45:13,744 --> 00:45:15,679 the decades of hard work of the team that 790 00:45:15,679 --> 00:45:18,082 designed, built, and operated Cassini. 791 00:45:18,082 --> 00:45:20,250 And that's really, right, the heart of the spacecraft 792 00:45:20,250 --> 00:45:22,352 is really the people that worked on it, 793 00:45:22,352 --> 00:45:24,154 the people that have been operating it. 794 00:45:24,154 --> 00:45:25,923 And this is a great time to celebrate 795 00:45:25,923 --> 00:45:28,192 that level of dedication, that devotion. 796 00:45:28,192 --> 00:45:30,661 To work on something for 10, 20, 30 years, 797 00:45:30,661 --> 00:45:34,398 that's sorta unparalleled in human history. 798 00:45:34,398 --> 00:45:36,433 - So how do you think Cassini will 799 00:45:36,433 --> 00:45:39,369 be remembered in the science books? 800 00:45:39,369 --> 00:45:41,905 - Well I'd say most of the science books, 801 00:45:41,905 --> 00:45:43,707 most of what we have in science books 802 00:45:43,707 --> 00:45:45,275 about Saturn come from Cassini. 803 00:45:45,275 --> 00:45:46,543 - [Gay] Right. 804 00:45:46,543 --> 00:45:47,811 - Right, so it will be long remembered. 805 00:45:47,811 --> 00:45:49,279 I mean you look at almost everything 806 00:45:49,279 --> 00:45:50,981 we know came from Cassini about Saturn. 807 00:45:50,981 --> 00:45:53,016 But you know, I think one of the greatest legacies 808 00:45:53,016 --> 00:45:55,319 of a mission is not just the scientific discoveries 809 00:45:55,319 --> 00:45:57,221 it makes and what you learn about, 810 00:45:57,221 --> 00:45:59,323 but the fact that you make discoveries that 811 00:45:59,323 --> 00:46:01,358 are so compelling that you have to go back. 812 00:46:01,358 --> 00:46:03,861 And that's really part of what the end of Cassini sweet 813 00:46:03,861 --> 00:46:05,929 is that the discoveries are so 814 00:46:05,929 --> 00:46:07,898 compelling that we have to go back. 815 00:46:07,898 --> 00:46:10,400 We will go back and fly through the geysers of Enceladus 816 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:12,469 and we'll go back and look at Titan, 817 00:46:12,469 --> 00:46:16,340 because the Cassini findings, they're just groundbreaking. 818 00:46:16,340 --> 00:46:19,843 - But the way missions are, one mission 819 00:46:19,843 --> 00:46:23,447 sort of sets the footsteps for the next mission. 820 00:46:23,447 --> 00:46:27,484 So what's coming up next after Cassini? 821 00:46:27,484 --> 00:46:30,120 - So one of the things we've learned about 822 00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:32,756 the outer solar system is how much water is there. 823 00:46:32,756 --> 00:46:34,825 So we used to think that most of the water was here 824 00:46:34,825 --> 00:46:37,194 in the inner solar system, here on Earth for example, 825 00:46:37,194 --> 00:46:38,996 habitable zone, Goldilocks Zone 826 00:46:38,996 --> 00:46:41,799 between Venus and Mars where we are. 827 00:46:41,799 --> 00:46:43,700 We now realize that there's a lot 828 00:46:43,700 --> 00:46:45,235 of water in the outer solar system. 829 00:46:45,235 --> 00:46:47,871 So Europa for example, the moon of Jupiter. 830 00:46:47,871 --> 00:46:49,573 Enceladus. 831 00:46:49,573 --> 00:46:51,475 And I think what you see compelling about the outer planets 832 00:46:51,475 --> 00:46:52,910 is to go back and look at those 833 00:46:52,910 --> 00:46:54,411 ocean worlds in great detail. 834 00:46:54,411 --> 00:46:57,014 Fly through the geysers, try to drill down through the ice, 835 00:46:57,014 --> 00:46:58,916 take a look at the composition of the ice. 836 00:46:58,916 --> 00:47:01,819 And as Jim Green noted, you know, are these habitable 837 00:47:01,819 --> 00:47:04,021 places, are these places where there could be life? 838 00:47:04,021 --> 00:47:06,523 And so we here at JPL and NASA, we have plans to go back 839 00:47:06,523 --> 00:47:09,393 to many of these ocean worlds, as many as we can. 840 00:47:09,393 --> 00:47:12,963 The next one up is a multiple flyby of Europa, 841 00:47:12,963 --> 00:47:15,999 we call it Europa Clipper, where we'll be in orbit 842 00:47:15,999 --> 00:47:18,202 around Jupiter and fly by Europa 40 or 50 times 843 00:47:18,202 --> 00:47:21,071 and taking a very close look at that ocean 844 00:47:21,071 --> 00:47:23,607 from above the ice, of course, 845 00:47:23,607 --> 00:47:25,542 and the composition of the ice. 846 00:47:25,542 --> 00:47:28,345 And then later we'll make our way to the other ocean worlds. 847 00:47:28,345 --> 00:47:30,414 - Ocean worlds are the things 848 00:47:30,414 --> 00:47:32,316 to look at right now, it seems. 849 00:47:32,316 --> 00:47:33,517 - Absolutely. 850 00:47:33,517 --> 00:47:35,285 You know, the search for life is one 851 00:47:35,285 --> 00:47:37,955 of the compelling threads for NASA and for 852 00:47:37,955 --> 00:47:40,257 the science mission directorate and for JPL. 853 00:47:40,257 --> 00:47:42,292 We're looking for life in our solar system 854 00:47:42,292 --> 00:47:44,094 and of course we're looking for life outside the 855 00:47:44,094 --> 00:47:46,163 solar system, we're looking for exoplanets and other Earths. 856 00:47:46,163 --> 00:47:47,898 But the ocean worlds look like 857 00:47:47,898 --> 00:47:49,399 an incredibly compelling target. 858 00:47:49,399 --> 00:47:52,035 - Alright, well thank you so much, Mike, 859 00:47:52,035 --> 00:47:54,104 for coming by and joining us. 860 00:47:54,104 --> 00:47:56,573 I know all the guys wanna get back in there, 861 00:47:56,573 --> 00:47:58,041 in the control room. - Absolutely. 862 00:47:58,041 --> 00:47:59,376 - And be there for the moment. 863 00:47:59,376 --> 00:48:00,644 - 'Til the last few minutes. 864 00:48:00,644 --> 00:48:02,179 - Alright, thank you so much. - Thanks Gay. 865 00:48:02,179 --> 00:48:04,915 - You're watching live coverage of Cassini's final hour 866 00:48:04,915 --> 00:48:07,017 from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 867 00:48:07,017 --> 00:48:09,920 JPL is located in La Canada Flintridge and Pasadena, 868 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:13,056 and managed by the California Institute of Technology. 869 00:48:13,056 --> 00:48:16,760 Let's take a look at our last hour display. 870 00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:19,763 Our display shows that we are just over 871 00:48:19,763 --> 00:48:23,967 seven minutes away from the end of mission. 872 00:48:25,335 --> 00:48:28,338 And it's now traveling about 75,000 miles per hour. 873 00:48:32,042 --> 00:48:36,213 So Cassini is traveling rapidly towards its end of mission. 874 00:48:43,287 --> 00:48:46,523 - For all the beauty and the exotic features that we found, 875 00:48:46,523 --> 00:48:49,326 those are places that startle and amaze, 876 00:48:49,326 --> 00:48:51,361 but not a place where you can live. 877 00:48:51,361 --> 00:48:54,598 And I think it gives you a perspective on 878 00:48:54,598 --> 00:48:58,068 the Earth and what a wonderful place it is, 879 00:48:58,068 --> 00:49:01,672 and more impetus to perhaps take care of it. 880 00:49:05,275 --> 00:49:07,244 - We are getting close to time, 881 00:49:07,244 --> 00:49:10,047 and the time when we should lose that signal. 882 00:49:10,047 --> 00:49:14,151 Folks are watching the radio science display right now, 883 00:49:14,151 --> 00:49:17,955 so let's go to Todd and Joni in Mission Control. 884 00:49:17,955 --> 00:49:21,091 - Hi Gay, well six minutes to go 'til we're six feet under. 885 00:49:21,091 --> 00:49:24,661 So it's gonna be hard to say goodbye here. 886 00:49:24,661 --> 00:49:28,332 Radio display still looks great as we just saw onscreen. 887 00:49:28,332 --> 00:49:30,033 Mission Control. 888 00:49:30,033 --> 00:49:34,204 I hear a lot of buzz in the room about the thruster cycles, 889 00:49:35,605 --> 00:49:37,975 'cause the thrusters are firing, we're still outside 890 00:49:37,975 --> 00:49:40,811 the atmosphere, and they're just keeping dead bands, 891 00:49:40,811 --> 00:49:44,481 keeping that pointed on Earth as long as possible. 892 00:49:44,481 --> 00:49:47,017 So things aren't too crazy yet, 893 00:49:47,017 --> 00:49:50,120 but once we hit that atmosphere things happen super fast. 894 00:49:50,120 --> 00:49:52,823 So let's look around the room. 895 00:49:52,823 --> 00:49:56,026 - [Man] Is nominal, we're in low rate mode 896 00:49:56,026 --> 00:49:58,762 and we're waiting for high rate mode transition. 897 00:49:58,762 --> 00:50:01,398 - Okay, thank you. - So that was indication-- 898 00:50:01,398 --> 00:50:04,101 - [Lead Operator] ACS fault protection. 899 00:50:04,101 --> 00:50:05,869 - [ACS Operator] Go ahead system lead. 900 00:50:05,869 --> 00:50:07,404 - [Lead Operator] Just gonna get 901 00:50:07,404 --> 00:50:08,872 a quick set system status please. 902 00:50:08,872 --> 00:50:10,540 - [ACS Operator] ACS fault protection is nominal. 903 00:50:10,540 --> 00:50:12,009 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 904 00:50:12,009 --> 00:50:13,510 Thermal systems lead. 905 00:50:13,510 --> 00:50:15,345 - [Thermal Operator] Thermal devices subsystem is nominal. 906 00:50:15,345 --> 00:50:16,880 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 907 00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:18,715 Power systems lead. 908 00:50:18,715 --> 00:50:20,784 - [Power Operator] Power system is nominal. 909 00:50:20,784 --> 00:50:22,319 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 910 00:50:22,319 --> 00:50:23,954 System fault protection system lead. 911 00:50:23,954 --> 00:50:25,922 - [Fault Protection Operator] System fault protection 912 00:50:25,922 --> 00:50:28,158 is nominal, no fault protection activity. 913 00:50:28,158 --> 00:50:29,593 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 914 00:50:29,593 --> 00:50:31,094 CES systems lead. 915 00:50:31,094 --> 00:50:32,929 - [CES Operator] CES is nominal, 916 00:50:32,929 --> 00:50:34,865 we have two frames buffered. 917 00:50:34,865 --> 00:50:36,400 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 918 00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:38,835 Telecom systems lead. 919 00:50:38,835 --> 00:50:42,039 - [Telecom Operator] Telecom is now good, SNG. 920 00:50:42,039 --> 00:50:44,508 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 921 00:50:44,508 --> 00:50:46,243 Radio science system state. 922 00:50:46,243 --> 00:50:48,478 - [Radio Science Operator] Radio is science is nominal. 923 00:50:48,478 --> 00:50:49,980 Two and was for power nominal, 924 00:50:49,980 --> 00:50:53,950 the residual frequency is starting to increase. 925 00:50:53,950 --> 00:50:56,219 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 926 00:50:56,219 --> 00:50:58,255 Propulsion Systems lead. 927 00:50:58,255 --> 00:51:00,924 - [Propulsion Operator] Pressures and temperatures 928 00:51:00,924 --> 00:51:03,060 are nominal, propulsion is nominal. 929 00:51:03,060 --> 00:51:04,928 - [Lead Operator] Okay, thank you. 930 00:51:04,928 --> 00:51:06,596 Mission planning systems lead. 931 00:51:06,596 --> 00:51:08,598 - [Planning Operator] Mission planning is nominal. 932 00:51:08,598 --> 00:51:10,133 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 933 00:51:10,133 --> 00:51:12,436 Side turn systems lead, everything is nominal. 934 00:51:12,436 --> 00:51:14,237 - [Woman] Copy. 935 00:51:14,237 --> 00:51:17,140 - [Radio Operator] And days copies. 936 00:51:18,575 --> 00:51:20,744 - [Lead Operator] Thank you ace. 937 00:51:20,744 --> 00:51:23,814 - [Joni] So what we just heard was the room going around 938 00:51:23,814 --> 00:51:26,516 and checking all of the subsystems, so so far, 939 00:51:26,516 --> 00:51:30,287 all of the subsystems are nominal, about four minutes, 940 00:51:30,287 --> 00:51:32,956 3 1/2 to four minutes away from the end. 941 00:51:32,956 --> 00:51:35,092 - [Todd] Joni, I heard a comment that we went 942 00:51:35,092 --> 00:51:37,928 from low rate to high rate control, can you comment on that? 943 00:51:37,928 --> 00:51:41,398 - [Joni] Sure, so we have our computer that's controlling 944 00:51:41,398 --> 00:51:44,067 our pointing has different modes and it's smart enough 945 00:51:44,067 --> 00:51:46,436 to know when we start having to fight a little harder. 946 00:51:46,436 --> 00:51:49,206 So we heard that the computer acknowledged 947 00:51:49,206 --> 00:51:51,408 that we start having to fight a little bit. 948 00:51:51,408 --> 00:51:53,243 - [Todd] Okay, thanks. 949 00:51:56,146 --> 00:51:58,515 We were remarking earlier, it's incredible, 950 00:51:58,515 --> 00:52:01,785 this entire spacecraft runs on 600 watts of power. 951 00:52:01,785 --> 00:52:03,053 How much power is that? 952 00:52:03,053 --> 00:52:04,688 - [Joni] Yeah, about half a hair dryer. 953 00:52:04,688 --> 00:52:06,289 - Wow. - It's all we got right now. 954 00:52:06,289 --> 00:52:07,824 [both laugh] 955 00:52:07,824 --> 00:52:09,559 - [Todd] I won't even talk about how little fuel 956 00:52:09,559 --> 00:52:12,429 we have left, it's about 1% plus or minus 2%. 957 00:52:12,429 --> 00:52:14,231 [Joni laughs] So that's one reason 958 00:52:14,231 --> 00:52:18,001 we're heading into Saturn's atmosphere today. 959 00:52:19,936 --> 00:52:21,938 Under three minutes now. 960 00:52:37,821 --> 00:52:39,456 We should definitely emphasize 961 00:52:39,456 --> 00:52:41,091 we don't know exactly when we'll lose signal. 962 00:52:41,091 --> 00:52:42,626 It depends on the Saturn atmosphere 963 00:52:42,626 --> 00:52:44,828 and how well the thrusters fight. 964 00:52:44,828 --> 00:52:45,996 So stay tuned. 965 00:52:48,832 --> 00:52:51,234 Radio signal looks wonderful. 966 00:52:52,469 --> 00:52:54,571 X band and S band, two different radio bands, 967 00:52:54,571 --> 00:52:56,306 still getting the signal from Cassini. 968 00:52:56,306 --> 00:52:58,008 - [Joni] And we're approaching 969 00:52:58,008 --> 00:53:01,444 about 10 degrees north latitude on Saturn. 970 00:53:05,949 --> 00:53:08,552 3000 miles from the cloud tops. 971 00:53:10,020 --> 00:53:13,123 - [Todd] I remember saying we were gonna hit the atmosphere 972 00:53:13,123 --> 00:53:17,294 about 77,000 miles an hours, I see we're close, so. 973 00:53:20,864 --> 00:53:22,966 Two minutes and counting. 974 00:53:32,342 --> 00:53:34,277 - [Joni] Oh, we're starting to exit the-- 975 00:53:34,277 --> 00:53:36,746 - [ACS Operator] Systems, this is ACS one. 976 00:53:36,746 --> 00:53:38,481 - [Lead Operator] Go ahead ACS. 977 00:53:38,481 --> 00:53:40,350 - [ACS Operator] We're still waiting for transition 978 00:53:40,350 --> 00:53:41,885 to high rate mode, but it looks like we're gonna start 979 00:53:41,885 --> 00:53:45,388 accumulating thruster on time at a higher rate now. 980 00:53:45,388 --> 00:53:49,559 And our attitude controller is starting to be more active. 981 00:53:51,294 --> 00:53:53,997 - [Lead Operator] Copy. 982 00:53:53,997 --> 00:53:55,298 - [Todd] That means we're just 983 00:53:55,298 --> 00:53:56,800 starting to sense the atmosphere, right? 984 00:53:56,800 --> 00:53:58,768 - [Joni] Yep, we can start seeing the spacecraft 985 00:53:58,768 --> 00:54:00,403 starting the lose the battle with the atmosphere. 986 00:54:00,403 --> 00:54:01,805 - [ACS Operator] This is ACS one, 987 00:54:01,805 --> 00:54:04,374 we just had the transition to high rate mode. 988 00:54:04,374 --> 00:54:06,776 And with this we're gonna start seeing thruster 989 00:54:06,776 --> 00:54:09,946 on time accumulating very quickly and the dead band is gonna 990 00:54:09,946 --> 00:54:14,117 clamp down to .52 millirad and we are in the atmosphere. 991 00:54:15,619 --> 00:54:17,787 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 992 00:54:17,787 --> 00:54:19,589 - [Todd] We're actually one minute to loss of signal. 993 00:54:19,589 --> 00:54:21,191 - [Nav Operator] Systems, this is nav. 994 00:54:21,191 --> 00:54:22,659 - [Lead Operator] Go ahead, Nav. 995 00:54:22,659 --> 00:54:25,695 - [Nav Operator] We can confirm what ACS just told you. 996 00:54:25,695 --> 00:54:28,531 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 997 00:54:30,367 --> 00:54:32,769 - [Joni] We're just starting to see 998 00:54:32,769 --> 00:54:35,538 the thrusters fire more and more. 999 00:54:41,444 --> 00:54:43,046 Yeah, it really is. 1000 00:54:45,715 --> 00:54:49,719 - [Todd] Radio signal still holding, 30 seconds. 1001 00:54:52,355 --> 00:54:54,057 - [Planning Operator] Systems lead, missions planning. 1002 00:54:54,057 --> 00:54:55,959 - [Lead Operator] Go ahead, mission planning. 1003 00:54:55,959 --> 00:54:57,761 - [Planning Operator] Spacecraft has just crossed 1004 00:54:57,761 --> 00:55:00,764 10 degrees north latitude, altitude 1000 miles. 1005 00:55:00,764 --> 00:55:04,167 - [Lead Operator] Copy, thank you. 1006 00:55:04,167 --> 00:55:07,804 - [ACS Operator] Systems, ACS one. 1007 00:55:07,804 --> 00:55:09,439 - [Lead Operator] Go ahead. 1008 00:55:09,439 --> 00:55:11,775 - [ACS Operator] With the additional thruster on time, 1009 00:55:11,775 --> 00:55:15,945 we're gonna also see the dead bands start rising up. 1010 00:55:27,290 --> 00:55:30,126 - [Todd] We crossed our zero time. 1011 00:55:51,715 --> 00:55:53,216 - [Radio Science] Flight director, radio science. 1012 00:55:53,216 --> 00:55:54,918 - [Flight Director] Go ahead, flight director. 1013 00:55:54,918 --> 00:55:56,553 - [Radio Science] We have loss of signal 1014 00:55:56,553 --> 00:55:59,155 at X-ray band and sierra band. 1015 00:56:26,583 --> 00:56:29,586 - [Flight Director] Project manager, flight director. 1016 00:56:29,586 --> 00:56:30,954 - [Project Manager] Go ahead. 1017 00:56:30,954 --> 00:56:32,422 - [Flight Director] Okay, we call loss 1018 00:56:32,422 --> 00:56:34,824 of signal, loss of X band at, 1019 00:56:45,502 --> 00:56:48,171 we call loss of signal at 115546 1020 00:56:49,572 --> 00:56:53,410 for the S band, that would be the end of the spacecraft. 1021 00:56:54,711 --> 00:56:57,580 - Project manager on FSO cord. 1022 00:56:57,580 --> 00:57:00,216 Maybe a trickle of telemetry left, 1023 00:57:00,216 --> 00:57:04,354 but just heard the signal from the spacecraft just go on 1024 00:57:05,755 --> 00:57:08,958 and within the next 45 seconds so will be the spacecraft. 1025 00:57:10,126 --> 00:57:11,895 I hope you're all as deeply proud 1026 00:57:13,730 --> 00:57:16,332 of this amazing accomplishment. 1027 00:57:16,332 --> 00:57:18,368 Congratulations to you all. 1028 00:57:18,368 --> 00:57:20,570 This has been an incredible mission, 1029 00:57:20,570 --> 00:57:24,541 an incredible spacecraft, and you're all an incredible team. 1030 00:57:24,541 --> 00:57:27,444 I'm gonna call this the end of mission. 1031 00:57:27,444 --> 00:57:29,779 Project manager off the net. 1032 00:57:31,448 --> 00:57:34,184 [people applaud] 1033 00:58:14,757 --> 00:58:17,527 [dramatic music] 1034 01:00:35,798 --> 01:00:39,969 [people talking amongst themselves] 1035 01:01:18,274 --> 01:01:21,310 - So just a short time ago, Julie Webster, 1036 01:01:21,310 --> 01:01:25,481 the space operations team manager and program manger 1037 01:01:26,883 --> 01:01:29,619 Earl Maize called it the end of mission for Cassini. 1038 01:01:29,619 --> 01:01:32,522 It came at about 4:55 as predicted. 1039 01:01:33,690 --> 01:01:36,426 Let's go now to Beckman Auditorium 1040 01:01:36,426 --> 01:01:38,461 and check in with Morgan Cable, 1041 01:01:38,461 --> 01:01:41,030 she is with Cassini interdisciplinary 1042 01:01:41,030 --> 01:01:43,433 scientist Jonathan Lunine, 1043 01:01:43,433 --> 01:01:45,301 to find out how the scientists 1044 01:01:45,301 --> 01:01:47,804 are doing and the team is doing down there. 1045 01:01:47,804 --> 01:01:50,506 The mission is certainly not over for them, 1046 01:01:50,506 --> 01:01:53,242 because now there will be tons of data 1047 01:01:53,242 --> 01:01:55,545 for them to be poring over. 1048 01:01:55,545 --> 01:01:56,379 Moran? 1049 01:01:59,849 --> 01:02:01,751 - That's a very good point, Gay. 1050 01:02:01,751 --> 01:02:05,455 There's gonna be lots of data to analyze for years to come. 1051 01:02:05,455 --> 01:02:08,691 Jonathan, how are you feeling right now? 1052 01:02:08,691 --> 01:02:11,894 - I'm actually breathing again. 1053 01:02:11,894 --> 01:02:15,698 And I feel sad, but we felt sad the whole week. 1054 01:02:15,698 --> 01:02:17,900 We knew this was going to happen. 1055 01:02:17,900 --> 01:02:20,670 And Cassini performed exactly as she was supposed to, 1056 01:02:20,670 --> 01:02:22,605 and I'll be there's some terrific data 1057 01:02:22,605 --> 01:02:25,074 on the ground now about Saturn's atmosphere. 1058 01:02:25,074 --> 01:02:27,310 - I'll bet you're right. 1059 01:02:27,310 --> 01:02:30,713 What was your favorite memory of Cassini? 1060 01:02:32,081 --> 01:02:35,051 Or share a story, just anything that comes to mind. 1061 01:02:35,051 --> 01:02:39,222 - My two favorite moments were both having to do with Titan. 1062 01:02:40,089 --> 01:02:42,258 One was seeing the seas of Titan 1063 01:02:42,258 --> 01:02:45,261 for the first time from the radar on Cassini. 1064 01:02:45,261 --> 01:02:47,730 And the other was seeing the surface 1065 01:02:47,730 --> 01:02:49,665 of Titan from the Huygen's probe. 1066 01:02:49,665 --> 01:02:53,836 Sitting with 30 other people in a trailer in the middle 1067 01:02:55,304 --> 01:02:56,939 of Germany in the middle of winter, it was cold and dark. 1068 01:02:56,939 --> 01:02:59,108 And there were the first pictures 1069 01:02:59,108 --> 01:03:02,378 of gullies on the surface of an alien world. 1070 01:03:02,378 --> 01:03:04,847 - That had to just blow your mind. 1071 01:03:04,847 --> 01:03:07,884 - It did, I was screaming, so was everyone else. 1072 01:03:07,884 --> 01:03:11,320 - Well I think the mood's been a little bit more somber now, 1073 01:03:11,320 --> 01:03:13,689 but there was applause right near the end. 1074 01:03:13,689 --> 01:03:17,226 I think this is a celebration of Cassini's life 1075 01:03:17,226 --> 01:03:20,563 and Cassini's legacy and we should talk 1076 01:03:20,563 --> 01:03:22,598 a little bit about the future. 1077 01:03:22,598 --> 01:03:25,835 What do you see next for the Saturn system? 1078 01:03:25,835 --> 01:03:29,205 - Well, what I would like to see next 1079 01:03:29,205 --> 01:03:31,707 for the Saturn system is that we go back there. 1080 01:03:31,707 --> 01:03:34,443 There's so many things that Cassini has given us 1081 01:03:34,443 --> 01:03:36,813 in terms of a legacy to explore. 1082 01:03:36,813 --> 01:03:39,315 Enceladus and the possibility of life. 1083 01:03:39,315 --> 01:03:43,486 Titan and its amazing lakes and seas and hydrologic cycle. 1084 01:03:44,654 --> 01:03:47,256 Saturn and the rings and the mysteries 1085 01:03:47,256 --> 01:03:49,392 of what lies beneath the clouds. 1086 01:03:49,392 --> 01:03:51,194 There's an awful lot that Cassini 1087 01:03:51,194 --> 01:03:55,064 has said to us, we must go back and explore. 1088 01:03:55,064 --> 01:03:57,433 - Yeah, there's a lot left to do in the Saturn system 1089 01:03:57,433 --> 01:04:00,536 and elsewhere in the solar system as well. 1090 01:04:00,536 --> 01:04:04,440 Well this has been an international mission 1091 01:04:04,440 --> 01:04:07,610 and an intergenerational mission, right, 1092 01:04:07,610 --> 01:04:09,979 it's been such a joy for someone like me 1093 01:04:09,979 --> 01:04:12,882 to be able to be mentored by veterans like you. 1094 01:04:12,882 --> 01:04:17,053 In terms of following on Cassini's legacy and mentoring 1095 01:04:18,187 --> 01:04:21,190 the next generation, what do you see in terms 1096 01:04:21,190 --> 01:04:23,826 of next missions coming up, being able to bring 1097 01:04:23,826 --> 01:04:26,829 in the next generation of scientists and engineers? 1098 01:04:26,829 --> 01:04:29,966 - First of all, I'm very very confident 1099 01:04:29,966 --> 01:04:32,969 and optimistic about the next generation, 1100 01:04:32,969 --> 01:04:35,705 because I can see that the experts are here already. 1101 01:04:35,705 --> 01:04:38,174 So we will be well served in the future. 1102 01:04:38,174 --> 01:04:41,611 Of course, NASA is going back to Europa 1103 01:04:41,611 --> 01:04:44,814 with the Europa Clipper, which is very exciting. 1104 01:04:44,814 --> 01:04:47,149 And the Europeans are doing JUICE to the other 1105 01:04:47,149 --> 01:04:50,386 Galilean moons and there are number of concepts out there 1106 01:04:50,386 --> 01:04:54,557 for going back to Enceladus and Titan and to Saturn. 1107 01:04:55,725 --> 01:04:57,526 We don't know if any of those are going 1108 01:04:57,526 --> 01:05:00,129 to happen in the next few years but we'll see. 1109 01:05:00,129 --> 01:05:02,732 There are lots of ideas, the important point is that 1110 01:05:02,732 --> 01:05:05,568 Cassini has gotta be a jumping off point 1111 01:05:05,568 --> 01:05:09,672 to even more exciting exploratory missions. 1112 01:05:09,672 --> 01:05:11,974 We can't let it stop at this point, 1113 01:05:11,974 --> 01:05:13,609 we have to keep going on. 1114 01:05:13,609 --> 01:05:15,211 We will in the Jupiter system. 1115 01:05:15,211 --> 01:05:16,679 We need to go back to Saturn, 1116 01:05:16,679 --> 01:05:18,381 we need to go to Uranus and Neptune. 1117 01:05:18,381 --> 01:05:20,116 We need to do the whole outer solar system. 1118 01:05:20,116 --> 01:05:22,318 - We need to, the outer planets. 1119 01:05:22,318 --> 01:05:24,620 I think one of the amazing things that Cassini 1120 01:05:24,620 --> 01:05:28,124 has shown us is that it's not a boring cold place. 1121 01:05:28,124 --> 01:05:31,460 It's dynamic, it's so incredibly varied. 1122 01:05:31,460 --> 01:05:34,664 Just the differences in the moons of Saturn alone. 1123 01:05:34,664 --> 01:05:37,700 It inspires us to wanna go back and to learn more. 1124 01:05:37,700 --> 01:05:41,904 - Yeah, you know, 40 years ago, Voyager One was launched. 1125 01:05:43,072 --> 01:05:45,441 And it was Voyager One and Two that 1126 01:05:45,441 --> 01:05:47,576 broke open the outer solar system for us, 1127 01:05:47,576 --> 01:05:51,747 told us that this was not a cold dead gray place. 1128 01:05:53,182 --> 01:05:55,184 And then Galileo and Cassini followed on and showed us 1129 01:05:55,184 --> 01:05:59,021 what really amazing things are going on in those systems 1130 01:05:59,021 --> 01:06:02,158 and that there might in fact be places for life to exist 1131 01:06:02,158 --> 01:06:05,194 in Europa and Enceladus and Titan. 1132 01:06:05,194 --> 01:06:08,898 And I have a poem I wanna read to you as well at some point. 1133 01:06:08,898 --> 01:06:10,199 Is this a good time? 1134 01:06:10,199 --> 01:06:11,667 - I think it's a great time. 1135 01:06:11,667 --> 01:06:14,403 - Okay, you know a lot has been said about Cassini already, 1136 01:06:14,403 --> 01:06:18,307 and the end of the mission, but I think that the best 1137 01:06:18,307 --> 01:06:22,411 I could to do leave for me, leave this celebration 1138 01:06:22,411 --> 01:06:25,414 of Cassini's end is to read a bit of a poem 1139 01:06:25,414 --> 01:06:27,883 by Swinburne, On the Verge, which was 1140 01:06:27,883 --> 01:06:30,353 a nautical poem about death and dying. 1141 01:06:30,353 --> 01:06:34,156 Death, sailing on the sea as a metaphor for death. 1142 01:06:34,156 --> 01:06:37,226 And so I'm gonna read the last few lines of it. 1143 01:06:37,226 --> 01:06:40,463 And I've changed one of the words, it'll be obvious. 1144 01:06:40,463 --> 01:06:43,532 Ah but here Cassini's heart leaps, 1145 01:06:43,532 --> 01:06:47,103 yearning toward the gloom with venturous glee. 1146 01:06:47,103 --> 01:06:50,806 Though her pilot eye behold nor bay nor harbor, 1147 01:06:50,806 --> 01:06:54,710 rock nor shoal, from the shore that hath no shore 1148 01:06:54,710 --> 01:06:57,213 beyond it set in all the sea. 1149 01:06:57,213 --> 01:06:59,315 - That's beautiful. 1150 01:06:59,315 --> 01:07:01,150 You had to do that, didn't you? 1151 01:07:01,150 --> 01:07:02,718 - I did, sorry about that. 1152 01:07:02,718 --> 01:07:04,620 - Thank you Johnathan for everything. 1153 01:07:04,620 --> 01:07:07,189 - Well Morgan, the future is in your hands 1154 01:07:07,189 --> 01:07:10,259 and the hands of your generation, and this was 1155 01:07:10,259 --> 01:07:12,828 a moment of transition, it was not the end. 1156 01:07:12,828 --> 01:07:15,765 And so let's go forth and explore the solar system together. 1157 01:07:15,765 --> 01:07:16,999 - Alright. 1158 01:07:16,999 --> 01:07:20,136 - That's a beautiful sentiment. 1159 01:07:20,136 --> 01:07:22,938 Well with me now is NASA Associate Administrator 1160 01:07:22,938 --> 01:07:25,107 for Science Thomas Zurbuchen. 1161 01:07:25,107 --> 01:07:27,376 Dr. Zurbuchen, what was your reaction 1162 01:07:27,376 --> 01:07:29,345 being in that control room? 1163 01:07:29,345 --> 01:07:32,014 - I was just overwhelmed with just 1164 01:07:32,014 --> 01:07:35,084 understanding how professional this team is. 1165 01:07:35,084 --> 01:07:37,119 You know, like during the entire time 1166 01:07:37,119 --> 01:07:38,921 this was clearly emotional for everybody. 1167 01:07:38,921 --> 01:07:41,724 The lucky peanuts were there, but there are lot of Kleenex, 1168 01:07:41,724 --> 01:07:43,692 and there's a lot of use of Kleenex. 1169 01:07:43,692 --> 01:07:46,929 But everybody was so professional to the very end, 1170 01:07:46,929 --> 01:07:49,565 and I just saw it happening, you know, it went so fast. 1171 01:07:49,565 --> 01:07:51,967 You know, somebody was shouting out, ah, 1172 01:07:51,967 --> 01:07:54,804 we're struggling with Z axis, and oh, it's gone. 1173 01:07:54,804 --> 01:07:58,374 And I just saw that team holding together 'til the very end. 1174 01:07:58,374 --> 01:08:01,143 Just really it's all about teamwork with this mission, 1175 01:08:01,143 --> 01:08:02,978 and it showed in the last seconds. 1176 01:08:02,978 --> 01:08:04,213 - It truly did. 1177 01:08:04,213 --> 01:08:05,815 And your feelings about this, 1178 01:08:05,815 --> 01:08:08,951 what sort of legacy do you think this mission leaves? 1179 01:08:08,951 --> 01:08:11,454 - You know, I really do think it rewrote 1180 01:08:11,454 --> 01:08:14,457 not only what we know about the outer solar system, 1181 01:08:14,457 --> 01:08:17,293 but how we think as humans about ourselves. 1182 01:08:17,293 --> 01:08:20,262 You know, these worlds that it found we never knew 1183 01:08:20,262 --> 01:08:24,433 were there are changing how we think about life itself. 1184 01:08:25,501 --> 01:08:27,136 And so for me, that's why it's truly 1185 01:08:27,136 --> 01:08:30,172 a civilization-scale mission, one that will 1186 01:08:30,172 --> 01:08:33,042 stand out among other missions anywhere. 1187 01:08:33,042 --> 01:08:36,512 - And how will it impact future ideas 1188 01:08:36,512 --> 01:08:40,583 and future missions as we plan new things? 1189 01:08:40,583 --> 01:08:43,052 - You know, some of the hardest questions to answer 1190 01:08:43,052 --> 01:08:46,055 are questions like is there life out there? 1191 01:08:46,055 --> 01:08:49,859 And this mission really has redefined that. 1192 01:08:49,859 --> 01:08:52,294 It will affect how we think about that question. 1193 01:08:52,294 --> 01:08:54,763 So of course we're tackling that at NASA with a multitude 1194 01:08:54,763 --> 01:08:57,166 of missions, looking at Mars, trying to bring 1195 01:08:57,166 --> 01:08:59,735 samples back, but also looking at Europa, 1196 01:08:59,735 --> 01:09:01,604 looking at these outer ocean worlds 1197 01:09:01,604 --> 01:09:05,040 and finding these worlds all over the universe, 1198 01:09:05,040 --> 01:09:07,676 all over our galaxy, every, you know. 1199 01:09:07,676 --> 01:09:10,079 There's thousands of these exoplanets 1200 01:09:10,079 --> 01:09:14,250 and you know, Saturn-like, Jupiter-like kind of exoplanets 1201 01:09:15,117 --> 01:09:16,552 that we're discovering and we're 1202 01:09:16,552 --> 01:09:19,121 thinking about in a totally new way. 1203 01:09:19,121 --> 01:09:23,292 - And so the thought is people are clamoring to go back. 1204 01:09:24,160 --> 01:09:25,694 Will that be difficult to do, 1205 01:09:25,694 --> 01:09:29,598 to be able to envision another mission to these places soon? 1206 01:09:30,866 --> 01:09:33,402 - It's always very difficult, right, to do this. 1207 01:09:33,402 --> 01:09:35,871 Because these machines are so hard. 1208 01:09:35,871 --> 01:09:39,575 To go back and for example take the next step on Enceladus, 1209 01:09:39,575 --> 01:09:43,045 we wanna really think what that will take. 1210 01:09:43,045 --> 01:09:45,214 Now there's great ideas already out there. 1211 01:09:45,214 --> 01:09:47,616 And perhaps some of these ideas will come to fruition 1212 01:09:47,616 --> 01:09:49,919 relatively early, I don't know, but you know, 1213 01:09:49,919 --> 01:09:52,221 we wanna really start thinking about this 1214 01:09:52,221 --> 01:09:54,857 and start talking about it in the science community. 1215 01:09:54,857 --> 01:09:58,561 We're all waiting for current stem to really start, 1216 01:09:58,561 --> 01:10:01,096 you know, making plans so we can create 1217 01:10:01,096 --> 01:10:04,300 a consensus as to what direction we wanna go at. 1218 01:10:04,300 --> 01:10:05,868 Yes we wanna really go back. 1219 01:10:05,868 --> 01:10:07,603 This is such a wonderful system, 1220 01:10:07,603 --> 01:10:09,305 we don't wanna leave it alone. 1221 01:10:09,305 --> 01:10:10,839 - Right, and such a beautiful one. 1222 01:10:10,839 --> 01:10:12,641 And it's affected so many people. 1223 01:10:12,641 --> 01:10:14,777 Dr. Zurbuchen, thank you so much 1224 01:10:14,777 --> 01:10:16,912 for sharing this moment with us. 1225 01:10:16,912 --> 01:10:18,881 A very special one. - Thanks to you. 1226 01:10:18,881 --> 01:10:21,016 - Alright. - Thanks to the team. 1227 01:10:21,016 --> 01:10:24,186 - Well the Cassini-Huygens team was a multi-international 1228 01:10:24,186 --> 01:10:27,756 team and in just a few moments from now we will 1229 01:10:27,756 --> 01:10:31,427 be speaking to members of ESA and ASI 1230 01:10:31,427 --> 01:10:34,763 about their feelings about this mission. 1231 01:10:38,100 --> 01:10:40,836 [dramatic music] 1232 01:12:40,622 --> 01:12:43,525 As we told you earlier, Cassini-Huygens was 1233 01:12:43,525 --> 01:12:47,129 a multi-national endeavor from the very very start. 1234 01:12:47,129 --> 01:12:48,997 A partnership between NASA, 1235 01:12:48,997 --> 01:12:52,968 the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency. 1236 01:12:52,968 --> 01:12:56,839 This is an equally proud moment for ESA and ASI, 1237 01:12:56,839 --> 01:13:00,109 and the ESA director of science, Alvaro Gimenez, 1238 01:13:00,109 --> 01:13:03,479 joins us, and the president of ASI, Roberto Battiston 1239 01:13:03,479 --> 01:13:06,949 are here to share this historic moment. 1240 01:13:06,949 --> 01:13:08,984 Thank you so much for coming. 1241 01:13:08,984 --> 01:13:11,653 Was this something that you decided 1242 01:13:11,653 --> 01:13:13,956 you couldn't miss it for the world? 1243 01:13:13,956 --> 01:13:16,091 - Of course we couldn't miss it, 1244 01:13:16,091 --> 01:13:18,827 because we knew this moment was gonna come. 1245 01:13:18,827 --> 01:13:21,730 It's a little bit sad, because we wanted to delay it 1246 01:13:21,730 --> 01:13:24,633 as much as possible and get as much science as possible. 1247 01:13:24,633 --> 01:13:26,201 But we knew it was coming. 1248 01:13:26,201 --> 01:13:30,372 In that sense it's sad, but it's also very nice to see that 1249 01:13:31,807 --> 01:13:34,743 we have opened the possibility for the future science also. 1250 01:13:35,611 --> 01:13:37,679 And for the scientist to work 1251 01:13:37,679 --> 01:13:40,916 on the data that Cassini has collected. 1252 01:13:40,916 --> 01:13:44,420 But also as an example and I think we have 1253 01:13:44,420 --> 01:13:48,357 to build on this cooperation between the US 1254 01:13:48,357 --> 01:13:51,427 and Europe in ambitious missions like this. 1255 01:13:51,427 --> 01:13:54,096 We are very proud of having worked together 1256 01:13:54,096 --> 01:13:57,833 and we have to make sure that we continue this way, 1257 01:13:57,833 --> 01:14:00,869 because together we can do much better. 1258 01:14:00,869 --> 01:14:02,805 - And much more-- - Than separate. 1259 01:14:02,805 --> 01:14:04,540 - And Roberto, your feelings. 1260 01:14:04,540 --> 01:14:06,642 I mean to be a part of this. 1261 01:14:06,642 --> 01:14:08,944 - It is a very historical moment, 1262 01:14:08,944 --> 01:14:11,246 and being part of that is really 1263 01:14:11,246 --> 01:14:14,116 something very emotionally intense. 1264 01:14:14,116 --> 01:14:17,085 I was not there 20 years ago when this started, 1265 01:14:17,085 --> 01:14:19,721 but I know the story of all my friend and colleagues. 1266 01:14:19,721 --> 01:14:23,225 And Cassini demonstrated we can do that. 1267 01:14:23,225 --> 01:14:26,795 We can create the conditions for the international 1268 01:14:26,795 --> 01:14:29,465 collaboration, the mission was operated 20 years. 1269 01:14:29,465 --> 01:14:31,767 We can learn an inter amount of things for the future 1270 01:14:31,767 --> 01:14:34,603 is one step gigantic step toward the future. 1271 01:14:34,603 --> 01:14:37,573 And really we should hope this is not the last one, 1272 01:14:37,573 --> 01:14:40,042 that this is the only the first one in a series. 1273 01:14:40,042 --> 01:14:43,378 - Were you surprised at how long this mission has lasted? 1274 01:14:43,378 --> 01:14:45,981 And the amount of information 1275 01:14:45,981 --> 01:14:49,485 and science that it has brought back? 1276 01:14:49,485 --> 01:14:52,654 - Not so much about the length, 1277 01:14:52,654 --> 01:14:54,590 I think we all dreamt about it. 1278 01:14:54,590 --> 01:14:58,760 But the discoveries and what we have found in the Cassini 1279 01:15:00,462 --> 01:15:03,465 system, in the Saturn system, are simply amazing. 1280 01:15:03,465 --> 01:15:05,801 We were surprised by that. 1281 01:15:05,801 --> 01:15:09,905 - And ESA's role with Huygens and working on Titan. 1282 01:15:09,905 --> 01:15:13,842 I mean, what was the high points for you? 1283 01:15:13,842 --> 01:15:17,212 - Well for me, Huygens was getting to Titan. 1284 01:15:17,212 --> 01:15:20,048 We landed there in 2005. 1285 01:15:20,048 --> 01:15:21,683 But the whole purpose was to 1286 01:15:21,683 --> 01:15:23,652 understand the atmosphere of Titan. 1287 01:15:23,652 --> 01:15:25,287 To analyze the atmosphere, 1288 01:15:25,287 --> 01:15:27,589 which is a pretty exotic atmosphere, 1289 01:15:27,589 --> 01:15:30,926 full of nitrogen and methane and those kind of elements, 1290 01:15:30,926 --> 01:15:35,097 which is what we thought that these bodies outside the outer 1291 01:15:36,498 --> 01:15:39,668 part of the solar system were before life could appear. 1292 01:15:41,003 --> 01:15:43,205 And we wanted to analyze that. 1293 01:15:43,205 --> 01:15:46,074 But then we found that we could even land. 1294 01:15:46,074 --> 01:15:48,577 When the mission was designed, 1295 01:15:48,577 --> 01:15:51,113 we didn't know how the surface was. 1296 01:15:51,113 --> 01:15:55,317 We didn't know if it was going to sink or land or whatever. 1297 01:15:56,718 --> 01:15:58,186 - And it was alive for some time when it landed. 1298 01:15:58,186 --> 01:16:00,222 - And it was alive, and that was amazing, 1299 01:16:00,222 --> 01:16:03,225 because also we could see first this was the furthest 1300 01:16:03,225 --> 01:16:06,862 away landing every of a human made probe. 1301 01:16:06,862 --> 01:16:11,033 But also we found a landscape totally unexpected of Titan. 1302 01:16:14,503 --> 01:16:17,205 Something similar to Earth actually. 1303 01:16:17,205 --> 01:16:18,740 - [Gay] Very. 1304 01:16:18,740 --> 01:16:22,477 - With lakes and rivers and mountains and very filming, 1305 01:16:23,845 --> 01:16:26,315 but with a totally different chemical composition. 1306 01:16:26,315 --> 01:16:27,783 Totally different world. 1307 01:16:27,783 --> 01:16:31,587 And with the cycles of methane rather than water. 1308 01:16:31,587 --> 01:16:35,757 But it is so interesting, it's so attractive I guess. 1309 01:16:37,159 --> 01:16:39,928 - But looking at it, it does look very very familiar. 1310 01:16:39,928 --> 01:16:41,930 And Roberto, let's talk about 1311 01:16:41,930 --> 01:16:45,200 ASI's role and the high gain antenna. 1312 01:16:45,200 --> 01:16:49,371 So often the project relied on the high gain antenna 1313 01:16:50,539 --> 01:16:53,141 as protection for the rest of the spacecraft, 1314 01:16:53,141 --> 01:16:56,645 was that something that was planned 1315 01:16:56,645 --> 01:17:00,749 and you thought this is a way to use the antenna? 1316 01:17:01,617 --> 01:17:02,884 - This antenna is amazing. 1317 01:17:02,884 --> 01:17:04,419 It's probably the most sophisticated 1318 01:17:04,419 --> 01:17:06,455 antenna ever built for a space mission. 1319 01:17:06,455 --> 01:17:09,558 Receiving and transmitting a field four different bands at 1320 01:17:09,558 --> 01:17:12,995 the same time, operating for 20 years, almost 20 years ago. 1321 01:17:12,995 --> 01:17:16,031 So that was at the core of it, but indeed you're right. 1322 01:17:16,031 --> 01:17:18,100 That was designed to be as 1323 01:17:18,100 --> 01:17:20,135 a passive thermal protection system. 1324 01:17:20,135 --> 01:17:22,204 Going into Venus this was shielding 1325 01:17:22,204 --> 01:17:26,108 the satellite from the intense solar radiation. 1326 01:17:27,409 --> 01:17:30,746 And getting into the Saturn environment, 1327 01:17:30,746 --> 01:17:33,582 it was shielding again the micrometeorite. 1328 01:17:33,582 --> 01:17:36,885 Basically measuring by the vibration on the antenna itself 1329 01:17:36,885 --> 01:17:39,788 the amount of micrometeorite it was hitting 1330 01:17:39,788 --> 01:17:43,191 and to use that as a protection when entering 1331 01:17:43,191 --> 01:17:47,362 in certain location like the space between the Uranus 1332 01:17:48,797 --> 01:17:52,367 and the Saturn planet, which was unknown, totally unknown. 1333 01:17:53,235 --> 01:17:55,370 And I think this is amazing. 1334 01:17:55,370 --> 01:17:58,573 Such a sophisticated instrument we use a thermal 1335 01:17:58,573 --> 01:18:02,210 shield call, as micrometeorite shield indeed. 1336 01:18:02,210 --> 01:18:06,214 - And Cassini was such a well-made machine 1337 01:18:06,214 --> 01:18:10,385 and served so well, I think in its entire flight 1338 01:18:11,787 --> 01:18:14,956 it had only safed I think three times and that was all. 1339 01:18:16,425 --> 01:18:19,594 But could not have done it without both ASI and ESA. 1340 01:18:21,029 --> 01:18:23,131 And we are so pleased that you are here and joining us. 1341 01:18:23,131 --> 01:18:25,834 - These are the kind of stories about space mission 1342 01:18:25,834 --> 01:18:30,005 that should be told, because the fact it was most 1343 01:18:31,173 --> 01:18:33,108 perfectly designed without trouble 1344 01:18:33,108 --> 01:18:36,078 is a tremendous giant bonds that should be known. 1345 01:18:36,078 --> 01:18:37,479 - Right. 1346 01:18:37,479 --> 01:18:40,115 Well thank you again for coming out and being with us on 1347 01:18:40,115 --> 01:18:42,484 this very very special day. - Thank you. 1348 01:18:42,484 --> 01:18:43,318 - Alright. 1349 01:18:48,056 --> 01:18:50,726 [relaxed music] 1350 01:21:07,762 --> 01:21:11,733 And that video you just saw was called Cassini Inspires. 1351 01:21:11,733 --> 01:21:15,470 It was made up of images that the public, you, sent in using 1352 01:21:15,470 --> 01:21:19,641 some of Cassini's raw images as well as your own artwork. 1353 01:21:20,375 --> 01:21:21,610 Thank you so much. 1354 01:21:21,610 --> 01:21:23,645 Well that wraps it up from here. 1355 01:21:23,645 --> 01:21:27,082 A bittersweet for the Cassini team, but we can't help 1356 01:21:27,082 --> 01:21:30,418 but feel proud of the fantastic people that made 1357 01:21:30,418 --> 01:21:34,589 these accomplishments possible these last 20 years. 1358 01:21:35,457 --> 01:21:37,092 And about an hour from now, 1359 01:21:37,092 --> 01:21:40,095 at 6:30 AM Pacific, 9:30 AM Eastern, 1360 01:21:41,496 --> 01:21:44,666 there will be a news briefing on Cassini's grand finale. 1361 01:21:44,666 --> 01:21:47,602 It will be live on NASA TV and also streamed. 1362 01:21:47,602 --> 01:21:50,572 And for more information about the mission, 1363 01:21:50,572 --> 01:21:53,909 you can check out the URLs you see on the screen. 1364 01:21:53,909 --> 01:21:56,211 And a little bit earlier, 1365 01:21:56,211 --> 01:21:59,014 Jim Green told you about the e-books. 1366 01:21:59,014 --> 01:22:01,549 Some of the most memorable gifts 1367 01:22:01,549 --> 01:22:04,419 from Cassini are those specactular images. 1368 01:22:04,419 --> 01:22:07,622 An e-book of these stunning images has been made, 1369 01:22:07,622 --> 01:22:09,524 and you can find it by going 1370 01:22:09,524 --> 01:22:12,928 to that link you see on the screen. 1371 01:22:12,928 --> 01:22:15,964 Well finally before we go, a parting look 1372 01:22:15,964 --> 01:22:19,968 at the DSN now image, the display you see there. 1373 01:22:21,436 --> 01:22:25,507 Antenna 43, that's the one in Australia, is now dark. 1374 01:22:27,075 --> 01:22:30,578 Communication with the spacecraft is now silent.