ManiThe research conducted at NASA truly reflects the best of human ability and capacity. This is where technology and human creativity delivers the best to solve the simplest and the most complex of problems. Cassini project is one such attempt studying Saturn.
The rings of Saturn are majestic and iconic, however, recent data from NASA’s Cassini project shows that maybe the majestic gas giant existed without its distinctive halo in the past. In fact, the rings may have formed later than the planet itself, according to a new analysis of gravity science data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
The findings show that Saturn’s rings formed between 10 million and 100 million years ago. From our planet’s perspective, that means Saturn’s rings may have formed during the age of dinosaurs.
The conclusions of the research – gleaned from measurements collected during the final, ultra-close orbits Cassini performed in 2017 as the spacecraft neared the end of its mission – are the best answer yet to a longstanding question in solar system science, as published in the online.
Saturn formed 4.5 billion years ago, in the early years of our solar system. There have been clues that its ring system is a young upstart that attached to Saturn years afterward. But how long afterward?
To figure out the age of the rings, scientists needed to measure something else: the mass of the rings, or how much material they hold. Researchers had the remote-sensing measurements from Cassini and both of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft in the early 1980s. Then came Cassini’s unprecedented, up-close data from its final orbits. As the spacecraft was running out of fuel, it performed 22 dives between the planet and the rings.
The dives allowed the spacecraft to act as a probe, falling into Saturn’s gravity field, where it could feel the tug of the planet and the rings. Radio signals sent to Cassini from the antennas of NASA’s Deep Space Network and the European Space Agency relayed the spacecraft’s velocity and acceleration.
Once scientists knew how much gravity was pulling on Cassini, causing it to accelerate – down to a fraction of a millimeter per second – they could decide how massive the planet is and how massive the rings are.
“Only by getting so close to Saturn in Cassini’s final orbits were we able to gather the measurements to make the new discoveries,” said Cassini radio science team member and lead author Luciano Iess, of Sapienza University of Rome. “And with this work, Cassini fulfills a fundamental goal of its mission: not only to determine the mass of the rings, but to use the information to refine models and determine the age of the rings.”
Iess’ paper builds on a connection scientists previously made between the mass of the rings and their age. Lower mass points to a younger age, because the rings, which are bright and mostly made of ice, would have been contaminated and darkened by interplanetary debris over a longer period. With a better calculation of ring mass, scientists were better able to estimate the rings’ age.
Saturn scientists are planning to continue work to figure out how the rings formed.
Hard to believe, there are people who think that NASA is frivolous spending.
Today’s NASA budget is roughly around $19 Billion, that may sound a lot but compared with the mid 1960s it should be $337 Billion.
All of these advancements and new technologies that gives us purpose, direction and meaning – all of it comes from this ½ percent investment, and it is this investment that has made United States a leading nation in the field of science.
Imagine for a moment if all the nations of the world competed with each other in space exploration as we compete in military prowess where the humankind would be today.
It is fascinating how this [post_category] is evolving and impacting our lives.
I try to blog about [post_category] news on my website, one for referencing back when you are writing something or researching, and two to share with everyone.
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Mani Masood
