September 15th Cassini Ends Mission
After two decades in space, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is [at] the end of its remarkable journey of exploration. Having expended almost every bit of the rocket propellant it carried to Saturn, operators are deliberately plunging Cassini into the planet to ensure Saturn’s moons will remain pristine for future exploration. (NASA)
How Cassini Communicates to Us
Earth uses the Deep Space Network (DSN) to communicate with Cassini. The DSN is a powerful collection of antennas that are scattered in 3 areas around the globe that are run by JPL for NASA. (JPL/NASA)
It’s even possible to watch the status of the DSN’s live
Cassini had an S-band transmitter (2 to 4 GHz) similar to wireless networks, and also a K2-band transmitter (26.5 GHz to 40 GHz). The K2-band allows for higher bandwidth communications used with long range satellites. (S-band, K2-band)
Moments before the crash and the last communication
One of the strangest things that has been discovered after NASA crashed Cassini is this strange audio recording. NASA cut these last few seconds from the public released version of the audio. It’s very difficult to understand the spoken words. But, given the landscape of Saturn, could these be people or even trapped souls?
What do you think?
I could not re-source the site I downloaded the audio from, it has been removed. Many things you hear and see from NASA are somehow removed, or air brushed after an original gets released. So, I have to ask… Is it a hoax?
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