Cassini into Saturn?? (after any extended mission)

[heyo]

I know a few things have been thought of for a possibly extended mission for Cassini. Orbiting Titan sounds good if we could see more than haze, I also like the idea of keeping it in the vacinity as a relay station as long as it still has power, to relay data to Earth from possible future probes to Saturns moons.<br /><br />I don't know how long the RTGs can last, but I presume it will eventually run out of power and become just a dead object orbiting Saturn. If that happens, I can't help but opt for the mad crazy suicide plunge into Saturn on it's last drop of juice. We might not see much or we might see a lot, I wonder what that very last picture would look like. Perhaps we could arrange it so the high gain dish is pointed towards Earth while it goes in. Any opinions on what we might see or what data we might get if we sent Cassini down into Saturn, or how long it may last before it is destroyed and whether or not we'd see anything in any of the pictures?<br /><br />Heyo

 

[Leovinus]

I think I'd like to slam it into the rings and see what kind of dent we can make in it. Or fly it over the rings at 1000 feet and get some cool pictures. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[heyo]

<i>I think I'd like to slam it into the rings and see what kind of dent we can make in it. Or fly it over the rings at 1000 feet and get some cool pictures. </i><br /><br />Yeah, that would be cool. Skim the rings really close or go right through. You could also buzz the planet really really low, skimming through the top of the atmosphere and taking pictures.<br /><br />Heyo