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Deep Dive: Cassini Grand Finale (Artist's Concept)

Illustration of spacecraft at Saturn.
Source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Published: March 23, 2016

Artist's concept of Cassini orbiter diving between Saturn's inntermost rings and cloud tops.

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+ Titanic Deluge -- Unannotated This series of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows changes on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan, as the transition to northern spring brings methane rain...
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This series of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows changes on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan, as the transition to northern spring brings methane rains to the moon's equatorial latitudes. Some of the most significant changes appear within a period of only a couple of weeks.
Titanic Deluge -- Annotated
Presented here is a complete set of cartographic map sheets from a high-resolution Enceladus atlas, a project of the Cassini Imaging Team. The map sheets form a 15-quadrangle series covering the...
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+ Unannotated Version The northern and southern hemispheres of Enceladus are seen in these polar stereographic maps, mosaicked from the best-available Cassini clear-filter images. Each map is...
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The northern and southern hemispheres of Enceladus are seen in these polar stereographic maps, mosaicked from the best-available Cassini clear-filter images.
Enceladus Polar Maps - December 2011 -- North -- Annotated
Eight of Cassini's science instruments are planned to be turned on during the final plunge.
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Cassini instruments
Instruments On During Cassini's Final Plunge
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Graphic showing trivia about the Cassini Mission.
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This plot shows the variation in brightness of the plume of material, composed of all the geysers erupting from the south polar terrain of Saturn's moon Enceladus, as a function of the moon's orbit...
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This plot shows the variation in brightness of the plume of material on Enceladus
Enceladus' Plume Brightness Variations
NASA's Cassini spacecraft will zip past Saturn's moon Dione on Monday, Aug. 17 -- the final close flyby of this icy satellite during the spacecraft's long mission.
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A computer-generated animation that shows the orbits of Cassini from 2004 to 2017 — affectionately called the "ball of yarn" by the missio team.
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Animated GIF showing Cassini's orbits rotating.
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Diagram of the Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe.
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Diagram of the Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe.
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This mosaic, made from radar images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, shows mountainous terrain on Saturn's moon Titan in the moon's northern hemisphere, north of the Aaru region. The annotate...
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A mosaic of mountainous terrain on Titan
Mountains North of Aaru on Titan
Cassini mission planners created this animation to showcase Cassini's final 22 orbits - the mission's Grand Finale.
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Animation showing Cassini Grand Finale orbits from a side view.
Grand Finale Orbits - Side View
Frigid and alien, yet similar to our own planet billions of years ago, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a thick atmosphere, organic-rich chemistry and a surface shaped by rivers and lakes of liqui...
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Artist's rendition of journey to Titan
Titan Travel Poster
This graphic represents a possible model for mechanisms that could generate the water vapor and tiny ice particles detected by Cassini over the southern polar terrain on Enceladus. This model shows...
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This graphic represents a possible model for mechanisms that could generate the water vapor and tiny ice particles detected by Cassini over the southern polar terrain on Enceladus. This model shows venting by plumes.
Modeling 'Warm' Ice on Enceladus
This computer-generated animation shows all of Cassini's orbits - affectionaly called the "ball of yarn" by mission planners.
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A computer-generated representation of all Cassini's Saturn orbits - affection called the "ball of yarn" by mission planners.
The Ball of Yarn: Cassini's Orbits
This artist's rendering shows a cross-section of the surface and subsurface of Saturn's moon Titan, with a possible model for the structure of underground liquid reservoirs there.
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This artist's rendering shows a cross-section of the surface and subsurface of Saturn's moon Titan, with a possible model for the structure of underground liquid reservoirs there.
Titan's Subsurface Reservoirs -- Annotated
This figure examines a particularly strong jet stream and the eddies that drive it through the atmosphere of Saturn's northern hemisphere. Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft were used to create th...
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Strong jet stream on Saturn's northern hemisphere
Eddy-Powered Jet stream
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This artist’s concept shows a possible model of Titan’s internal structure that incorporates data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
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An artist's concept of the Cassini spacecraft crossing Saturn's ring plane during one of the mission's final orbit.
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Artist's rendition of Cassini through the rings
Ring Crossing: Cassini Grand Finale (Artist's Concept)
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Geologic Map of Titan Volcano
Geologic Map of Titan Volcano
The University of Arizona's commemorative poster celebrating OSIRIS-REx's arrival at asteroid Bennu in December 2018.
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Colorful, stylized view of spacecraft approaching an asteroid.
OSIRIS-REx Arrival at Bennu Poster
Cassini mission planners created this animation to showcase Cassini's final 22 orbits - the mission's Grand Finale.
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Animation showing 22 orbit plots around Saturn.
Grand Finale Orbits Petal Plot
+ Unannotated Version This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows an ancient southern sea that used to sprawl out near the south pole of Saturn's moon Titan. In an annotated version, the red...
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This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows an ancient southern sea that used to sprawl out near the south pole of Saturn's moon Titan.
Outline of an Ancient Sea on Titan -- Annotated
See also the non-annotated version. Astronomers have long known that Saturn's rings reflect sunlight most strongly when Earth is located directly between Saturn and the sun. Flat, shiny surfaces (...
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Saturn's rings during specular reflection
Cat's eye rings and peek-a-boo shadows (annotated)

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