After 12 years of studying every part of Saturn it could reach, the flagship-class, robotic spacecraft that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA), and Italian Space Agency (ISA) developed is on its way to the final phase of the mission, affectionately dubbed as the "Grand Finale."
According to NASA, Cassini-Huygens will enter Saturn's atmosphere on Sep. 15, 2017, and it will spend its final moments sending back whatever data it can before it loses signal. This last stage begins on Nov. 30.
First, Cassini's orbit will let it arrive at the edge of Saturn's main rings and it will spend some time on F-ring orbits. Eventually, the unmanned spacecraft will end up 4,850 miles away from the center of the narrow F-ring.
"During the F-ring orbits we expect to see the rings, along with the small moons and other structures embedded in them, as never before," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
To begin the grand finale, Cassini will approach Saturn's gigantic moon Titan to alter its orbit and allow it to pass through an unexplored gab between Saturn and the rings. This will begin on April 2017. NASA reported that it is expected to make 22 dives with the first one happening on April 27, 2017.
During the plunges, Cassini is expected to provide the answers on several things - Saturn's magnetic and gravity fields, a close shot of its atmosphere, and the measurement of time on it in comparison to ours.
It will also send back information about the total mass of rings which scientists believe will answer the question of its age. All this will start on Cassini's flyby to Titan.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has already started a digital timer in their mission control counting down Cassini's descent on Saturn.
To date, Cassini has provided almost 600 gigabytes of scientific data, 2.4 million commands have been given and executed, helped discover 10 of Saturn's moons, travelled 2.2 billion miles, and commemorates a collaborative effort of 27 nations.
Thus, Cassini's grand finale is expected to be met with a mixture of tears and cheers.
