Cassini Spacecraft Poised to Crash into Saturn, NASA Says

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With help from the general public, NASA has chosen a name for the final phase of its Saturn-studying Cassini mission.
In late 2016, Cassini will zip between Saturn and its innermost ring a total of 22 times in a mission phase that will now be known as the “Cassini Grand Finale.” The mission will end in September 2017 when the probe intentionally dives into Saturn’s atmosphere.
According to Christian Science Monitor, “The spacecraft’s handlers had been calling this upcoming period “the proximal orbits” because Cassini will be so close to the planet, but they felt this appellation lacked pizzazz. So in April, they asked the public to vote for names provided by mission team members or suggest monikers.”

Over 2,000 people took part in the naming process, NASA said. The team took the public’s input into account and ultimately decided on the name “Cassini Grand Finale.”
“We chose a name for this mission phase that would reflect the exciting journey ahead while acknowledging that it’s a big finish for what has been a truly great show,” Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.
Cassini first launched in October 1997 and arrived in its orbit around Saturn 10 years ago yesterday (June 30). The Cassini mission cost $3.2 billion and was a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. Cassini also dropped a lander named Huygens onto Saturn’s moon Titan in January 2005.
Cassini has made many important discoveries about Saturn. The spacecraft detected plumes of water ice gushing forth from geysers at the south pole of the moon Enceladus, suggesting the Saturn satellite harbors an ocean of liquid water beneath its surface.
The Cassini Grand Finale will map Saturn’s gravity and magnetic fields, assess how much material is in the planet’s iconic rings and take pictures of Saturn and the planet’s rings, University Herald reported.
To ensure that it doesn’t crash into or contaminate Titan and Enceladus, moons which may host life, Cassini will be steered into Saturn’s atmosphere.