Nasa's Cassini spacecraft to end 20-year mission by crashing into Saturn
by Alan Yuhas from on (#2J5TV)
After 22 orbits between the planet and its rings, Nasa plans for Cassini to 'break apart, melt, vaporize and become part of the very planet it left Earth to explore'
On its final mission, threading past hazardous cosmic dust and into hurricanes 1.2bn kilometers away, the Cassini spacecraft will end its 20-year journey with humanity's closest ever look at what goes on in Saturn's rings and within its clouds.
On Tuesday, Nasa scientists unveiled their plan for the storied spacecraft, and their reasoning for driving Cassini to its own destruction: with the spacecraft running out of fuel, they do not want to risk it crashing into and contaminating Saturn's moons, where there may be conditions for alien life.
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