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Cassini's Got Pictures And Data
MythMoth writes "To celebrate the anniversary of the Cassini-Huygens probe's orbital insertion, NASA's JPL has a set of fifteen amazing photos from the past year. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that some of the latest science data from the mission reveals that Saturn's ring system has its own (thin) O2 atmosphere, and that the planet's rotation seems to be slowing!"
Hell, this is /., we'll celebrate anyone's insertion. Call me for the explosion.
Vote for the Death Star (you can figure out which one I mean)
One of the most intriguing of all the photos is likely the one of the moon Iapetus. While the other photos beautifully capture images of Titan and Saturn itself, the real object of intrigue is the geological formation on Iapetus. Near its equator theres a huge topographic ridge, which gives the moon a really unusual appearance.
Was anyone else struck by how Titan seems very similar to Mars on its surface shot? Lots of small rocks and boulders laying around its surface and a general haze present etc etc.
the planet's rotation seems to be slowing!
Of course it is. We keep using it to boost our spacecraft.
It was BW. They used the spectral information from the DISR device (think of it as a single pixel of full very accurate color) and then used it to interpolate color for a whole image. Anywho, it's bizarre but the highest quality polished images didn't seem to come from the DISR group (bleech) but instead from amateurs, mere hours after descent no less. One should keep in mind this is all through an 1 byte/sec link from the probe....
- "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
Wouldn't that be an atmotorus?
Yeah, yeah -1 Pedant...
Don't trust anyone under thirty.
Can you clarify what you mean be "anymore"? Was there ever a time that people knew what the real planets "looked" like? Or even the unreal planets for that matter....most of everything we know is heresay and much of that is colorful heresay, to say the least.
Best of all, if you really want to know what the planets look like, these "false colored" images are the best thing after all because they pick out features that single sources of original data are obscuring or not picking up at all. It shouldn't be forgotten that this is data imaging, not a family picnic slideshow; the instruments being used to generate the data are not limited to the familiar visible-spectrum light camera that we are used to for our snapshots.
Still, I'm anxiously awaiting those holographic images you suggested. Now thats a nice enhancement!
There were several ways you could have asked that question without being utterly disrepectful, and without sounding like you're lashing out at the world.
The people you're talking about are hardworking and dedicated people at the forefront of exploration. If the sequence of their efforts at exploration isn't logical to you, consider the possibility that you lack key information fueling your basic assumptions, and frame your question with that in mind.
Otherwise, it's more difficult for the people who know the answers to cull the question from the troll.
Agreed... but... We would love to produce HD type pics from these missions. It's not a scientific problem, nor is it a technical problem, it's a financial problem! Let's take a look:
The camera. This dude has to work in a radiation environment. You cannot just take your high-def Newegg purchased camera and launch it. These types of things have been tried before (non-flight qualified parts) and they don't last long. No, you have to build this bad boy from scratch with parts (CCDs, etc) that can withstand a severe radiation environment.
BitRate. One of the significant cost issues on any mission is the science bitrate requirements. It costs a lot of money to get data back to Earth. First there is the instruments ability to collect such data (insignificant)... Second there is the spacecrafts ability to transmit this data, a very significant problem.. (with increased bitRate comes increased power requirements, increased mass, etc...) and with that comes a significant increase in the launch costs, to say nothing of the development costs.
Collection... With an increased bitRate comes a greater requirement to collect the data and so a significant increase in cost.. You don't just point your little home dish at the right location and get a signal... (don't get me wrong, that would be great, but the power to generate such a signal would be sadly cost prohibitative). No, you have to collect the data on the big boys and they are not cheap.
In each and every one of these missions the scientists and engineers have to scale back their desires (not because of any technological problems but) because what they would like to do cannot be done given the funding opportunity. So you cut, scale back, cut some more, scale back again, etc... and eventually you arrive at a proposal that might actually be funded. It's not exactly what you would hope for, but given the opportunity available it's your best bet at a viable mission.
"Truth is much too complicated to allow anything but approximations"
They did say that they might not be measuring it right. Still, between the swirly fluid mass of the planet, the moon system, magnetic field and whatnot, if they're correct, it would be interesting to see where Saturn's hiding all the angular momentum.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.