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Cassini Returns Never-before-seen Views of the Ringed Planet - Saturn
NASA.gov ^ | 3/1/07

Posted on 03/01/2007 6:09:06 PM PST by NormsRevenge

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured never-before-seen views of Saturn from perspectives high above and below the planet's rings. Over the last several months, the spacecraft has climbed to higher and higher inclinations, providing its cameras with glimpses of the planet and rings that have scientists gushing.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cassini; huygens; nasa; saturn; space; titan
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1 posted on 03/01/2007 6:09:07 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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"Finally, here are the views that we've waited years for," said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "Sailing high above Saturn and seeing the rings spread out beneath us like a giant, copper medallion is like exploring an alien world we've never seen before. It just doesn't look like the same place. It's so utterly breath-taking, it almost gives you vertigo."

The images taken over last two months are being released today and include black and white and color mosaics, as well as a dramatic movie sequence showing the rings as they appeared to Cassini while it sped from south to north, rapidly crossing the ring plane. Also released is a playful view of the rings from high above, with the planet removed.

Cassini's highly inclined orbits around Saturn will be progressively lowered so that, by late June -- three years after entering orbit -- the spacecraft will once more be orbiting in the ring plane.

The new images and movie are available at: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini , http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://ciclops.org .

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.


2 posted on 03/01/2007 6:09:41 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ......)
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To: NormsRevenge

Thanks for your Post Norm!!!!...


3 posted on 03/01/2007 6:16:22 PM PST by GitmoSailor (Cold War Veteran===Beware of the IDs of Marx=Fairness Doctrine,3rd party,Slow Bleed+Hillary.)
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To: NormsRevenge

I gladly pay $10 for my share of the cost of this project.


4 posted on 03/01/2007 6:18:34 PM PST by gridlock (Isn't it peculiar that matter what the problem, the government's solution is always "more taxes".)
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To: GitmoSailor

You're most welcome, we need a break from the dems and parade of Rinos. ;-)


5 posted on 03/01/2007 6:19:35 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ......)
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To: NormsRevenge

This is great stuff, NormsRevenge. I used to have software named Redshift that enabled the user to develop similar images.


6 posted on 03/01/2007 6:19:58 PM PST by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: sig226

Planetary PING!!!


7 posted on 03/01/2007 6:20:55 PM PST by Roccus (They're living in the Dark Ages and they act like they own the world. [Dmitri Gredenko])
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To: NormsRevenge; Two Thirds Vote Aye
Norm we have freeper who worked on Cassini..

Hey Two thirds take a bow buddy you earned it.

8 posted on 03/01/2007 6:27:26 PM PST by Dog
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To: NormsRevenge

Awesome!


9 posted on 03/01/2007 6:31:15 PM PST by NinoFan (Rudy Lovers: The Rosie O'Donnell Wing of the Republican Party)
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To: NormsRevenge; All

WOW!! Thanks for posting this !!!

BTTT !!


10 posted on 03/01/2007 6:33:20 PM PST by musicman
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To: NormsRevenge

Have they spotted any potential presidential candidates there?

Awesome photos!


11 posted on 03/01/2007 6:38:18 PM PST by o_zarkman44
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To: GitmoSailor

Whoa! I see some great colors schemes for my next living room repaint. Who says that the space program doesn't have practical applications?


12 posted on 03/01/2007 6:39:56 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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To: NormsRevenge

I'm surprised no one has made a joke about Giuliani and Uranus.


13 posted on 03/01/2007 6:45:05 PM PST by MittFan08 (Anybody but McCain)
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To: NormsRevenge

Beautiful.....

That pic is now the background for one of my desktops.

Thank you very much for posting this.


14 posted on 03/01/2007 6:50:56 PM PST by Gator113
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To: NormsRevenge

Reminds me of the test pattern we used to see on tv in the old days, when there was nothing else on.
Please stand by...


15 posted on 03/01/2007 6:58:09 PM PST by Graymatter
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To: MittFan08

Now now,, I'm trying to keep this a non-political thread. ;-)


16 posted on 03/01/2007 6:58:27 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ......)
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To: NormsRevenge
Why do they call them "rings" when they don't even go ALL the way around the planet?

;->

17 posted on 03/01/2007 6:58:45 PM PST by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: Izzy Dunne
"Why do they call them "rings" when they don't even go ALL the way around the planet"

The rings do go all oof the way around the planet.
The blackened out portion of the rings is the shadow of
of Saturn being cast on the rings.

18 posted on 03/01/2007 7:03:19 PM PST by StormEye
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To: StormEye

I guess the ";->" part of my post wasn't obvious enough...


19 posted on 03/01/2007 7:06:01 PM PST by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Holy Toledo, the full resolution .JPG picture blows my socks off! Very nice.


20 posted on 03/01/2007 7:13:58 PM PST by LibWhacker
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