Cassini's Iapetus Flyby

cupofjoe writes "The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is reporting on the Cassini spacecraft's recent close flyby of the Saturnian moon Iapetus, highlighting images taken from distances 100 times closer than the Voyager 2 flyby in 1981. Near real-time images were shown to Cassini mission team members in a presentation at JPL yesterday, during which a pre-recorded message from Arthur C. Clarke was played to the audience. Clarke wished them luck on the flyby, reminding all present that he had included a pretty accurate description of Iapetus in the original 1968 text of "2001: A Space Odyssey", years before Voyager made its flyby."

Comments

Pretty accurate description of Iapetus?

[nacturation]

That's not how I read it. FTA:

This is a particularly exciting moment for fans of 2001: A Space Odyssey - because that's where the lone astronaut Dave Bowman discovers the Saturn monolith, which turns out to be a gateway to the stars. Chapter 35 in the novel is titled 'The Eye of Iapetus', and it contains this passage:

        "Iapetus was approaching so slowly that it scarcely seemed to move, and it was impossible to tell the exact moment when it made the subtle change from an astronomical body to a landscape, only fifty miles below. The faithful verniers gave their last spurts of thrust, then closed down forever. The ship was in its final orbit, completing a revolution every three hours at a mere eight hundred miles an hour - all the speed that was required in this feeble gravitation field."

After more than 40 years, I cannot remember why I placed the Saturn monolith on Iapetus. The submitter makes it sound like a boast but in reality it's simply saying that enthusiasts will appreciate the reference.

Re:Inky Stains

[naam00]

Can't find that second image you mention, but you do realize the light direction is from below in the first one, don't you? Those are just craters, not bubbles. The 'stains' could still be holes or caves I guess, but bubbles?

Re:amazing photos

[gigantu']

What looks dark can be bright at a different wavelength. It depends on what sensors you are using.
Another fascinating black "thing" on Mars: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003647_1745 . But in this case is just a hole in the ground.

Even if it's a boast

[tkrotchko]

Even if it was a boast, Arthur C Clarke is allowed that little bit of ego. Besides being an engaging write, he was truly a SCIENCE fiction writer. I don't need to tell you all he's predicted, accomplished, and contributed to popular culture; you can do that yourself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Clark).

Truly an icon, and I glad he was around to see some sort of space exploration take place, even if we didn't accomplish everything he predicted.