Cassini flies by Phoebe
Posted: Sun, Jun 13, 2004, 10:21 AM ET (1421 GMT)
NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully flew by the moon Phoebe on Friday, taking images of the heavily-cratered outer moon of Saturn. Cassini flew within 2,068 km of Phoebe, one of Saturn's outermost moons, at just before 5 pm EDT (2200 GMT) Friday. The spacecraft's antenna was pointed away from Earth during the flyby, so confirmation of the flyby had to wait until Saturday, when the spacecraft reoriented itself and transmitted initial data from the flyby to Earth. The first images of Phoebe returned by Cassini reveal a small moon, about 220 km in diameter, pockmarked with a variety of large and small craters. The flyby is the first of over 50 flybys of seven of Saturn's moons during the mission; this was the only flyby of Phoebe planned because of the moon's distance from Saturn. Cassini is scheduled to fire its main engine and enter orbit around Saturn on the night on June 30.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully flew by the moon Phoebe on Friday, taking images of the heavily-cratered outer moon of Saturn. Cassini flew within 2,068 km of Phoebe, one of Saturn's outermost moons, at just before 5 pm EDT (2200 GMT) Friday. The spacecraft's antenna was pointed away from Earth during the flyby, so confirmation of the flyby had to wait until Saturday, when the spacecraft reoriented itself and transmitted initial data from the flyby to Earth. The first images of Phoebe returned by Cassini reveal a small moon, about 220 km in diameter, pockmarked with a variety of large and small craters. The flyby is the first of over 50 flybys of seven of Saturn's moons during the mission; this was the only flyby of Phoebe planned because of the moon's distance from Saturn. Cassini is scheduled to fire its main engine and enter orbit around Saturn on the night on June 30.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, June 5
U of A leads space domain awareness research with $8.6M from Space Force
Univ. of Arizona — 5:38 am ET (0938 GMT) There’s More to Space Stocks Than SpaceX
Wall Street Journal — 5:37 am ET (0937 GMT) There’s No Substitute for SpaceX
Wall Street Journal — 5:37 am ET (0937 GMT) Space to Fail
National Review — 5:36 am ET (0936 GMT) Blue Origin Still in Running for Top Satellite Launches, US Says
Bloomberg News — 5:36 am ET (0936 GMT) |
