Cassini Mission Gets an Extra Two Years

I’ve probably said it before but I will repeat it here by saying that I love reading about the Cassini Space Probe mission.  That is why I am excited to learn today that NASA has extended the mission, which was scheduled to end this July, for another two years.  The mission launched over ten years ago in October of 1997 and only reached Saturn in 2004.  Since being in Saturn orbit the mission has produced dazzling images of Saturn’s rings, launched the probe Huygens onto the moon Titan, detected a faint ring around the moon Rhea, and passed through a water vapor geyser emitting from Enceladus discovering some organic molecules (not life but the stuff life is partially made of).  All this, and more, has greatly expanded our knowledge of not just Saturn and its moons but also clues about our own planets past.  I believe the Cassini Space Mission might be one of the most important such missions in my life time (probably right up there with the NASA robots that are exploring Mars).