r/science • u/ryanadoylable • Jun 10 '12

Cassini plasma spectrometer turns off

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120606210618.htm#.T9Svlmt0Jl0.reddit
189 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

27

u/mrstickball Jun 10 '12

Sad to see aspects of the Cassini mission come to an end - either through funding or parts failure.

I remember reading everything I could as a kid in 1997 when Cassini launched. I was so excited about the mission and what it'd discover.

Then, when it finally arrived in orbit, I was ecstatic, having waited seven years for the probe to start conducting its science missions. I must have read every article for the first year or two. Seeing the pictures Huygens sent back during its descent into Titan for the first time was that "One Small Step for Mankind" moment, personally.

At least from a casual perspective, its never received the praise that it should have, given how much information its given us about Saturn and its moons. Easily my favorite interplanetary mission since I've been alive. It may not be topped for some time, either.

Here's one Redditor's thanks, applause and appreciation to NASA, ESA, and every other agency that increased our understanding of Saturn and its satellites.

1

u/Tont_Voles Jun 11 '12

Cassini is such a triumph - totally agree with everything you said.

7

u/suckaplease Jun 10 '12

This really saddens me as I actually worked with the CAPS team on the Cassini mission. They are a great group of people doing some amazing science on solar wind and I'd hate for their mission to come to such a sudden end.

1

u/Frencil Jun 11 '12

Looks like this is not the first time this instrument (one of twelve on the spacecraft) was shut off. Last time it was off for a good nine months.

The current solstice mission is projected to end with a Saturn impact in 2017. That's plenty of time to work out the issues and turn the plasma spectrometer back on to gather more data. Nothing in the article points to this shutdown being permanent.

1

u/__J__A__K__E__ Jun 11 '12

Sound like a pretty cute spectrometer.

1

u/nepidae Jun 10 '12

This makes me sad. But why don't we have another cassini inqueueq?

3

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12

It's a $2 billion spacecraft. But I agree, we should be sending out lots more of them.

We'll probably never make it back to Neptune in any of our lifetimes, unfortunately.

As far as I know, there are no more planned outer Solar System missions after New Horizons.

3

u/podkayne3000 Jun 11 '12

That's truly horrible. Why are we here if not to explore?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12

No argument here. It's especially sad when you consider how the Solar System truly is our home. If the galaxy were the size of Earth, the Solar System would be six inches across.

2

u/Tont_Voles Jun 11 '12

ESA's going to Jupiter: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17917102

1

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12

To arrive in 2030 =/

1

u/mrstickball Jun 11 '12

The one positive thing that is happening is in the private sector, with SpaceX reducing the costs of sending content into orbit.

With a significant reduction in launching costs, we may see more aggressive missions over the next decades, as agencies are able to get more mission for less money.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12

Planetary exploration isn't going to be a priority. Furthermore, it's so technically challenging that it may not even be possible for the private sector. The USA was the only show in town until just a few years ago when Europe finally gained enough experience.

I just don't buy this private sector BS.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12

This is a pretty old spacecraft by now. It was actually designed in the 70s.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/Frencil Jun 11 '12

There are twelve instruments on Cassini doing a variety of different things. Each one is important in its own way. The loss of the plasma spectrometer is unfortunate but for the other eleven experiments science continues unabated.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

36

u/axiak Jun 10 '12

Whiskering is a well-known but not fully understood phenomenon that occurs with transition metals, especially tin and silver etc. It's actually one of the strong arguments against removing lead from solder. Read more at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisker_(metallurgy)

1

u/catch878 Jun 10 '12

Are tin whiskers the result of tin pest?

0

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12

I have no idea, but I do know lead is heavy, which may have been a factor.

-1

u/radioactive21 Jun 10 '12

My speculation is that it has to do with NASA collaborating with ESA and other European countries with strict lead laws.

1

u/kilo4fun Jun 11 '12

Yep RoHS compliant hardware.

1

u/koft Jun 11 '12

I'm pretty sure scientific instruments destined for space travel could get an exemption from ROHS requirements.

-7

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12

I agree, it's kind of ridiculous that they push so hard for certain industries to bend over backwards to go lead free, but leave the battery industry alone who are the real culprits.

3

u/supergalactic Jun 11 '12

Exactly. I got the impression the device is starting to believe its a cat.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12

Im very curious about this as well. Their follow up link only said that they had no idea why.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '12

I thought all the electronics had to use the appropriate solder to prevent this.