In 1997, Cassini was launched into far ends of the universe to discover distant planets, like Saturn. No one knew if it will work the way it was intended. The fuel, signal control, interference from other celestial bodies… there are so many things that could have gone wrong.
Cassini reached Saturn in 2002 and it has been orbiting the planet since. Scientists consider this mission a very successful one as it is still in orbit and working perfectly. Due to distance, scientists have to allow time lags for the signals to be received/sent. It takes about a day for a signal to travel between Earth and Cassini- and the signals are travelling at the speed of light!
During all these eight years of communication between Cassini and us, we have seen some very interesting photos. Close up shots of Saturn’s surface and rings are visible so closely for the first time that you could see even the smallest the scratches on the planet!
Scientists found mountains in the rings of Saturn with the help of black and white signals that Cassini has been sending. Nahum Chasarra has created a video from those shots. These are all individual shots of Saturn, its rings, moons, asteroids and sky above Saturn; combined into a motion picture!
Salute to Cassini creators and Nahum Chasarra !!!