The Cassini mission has been one of the most successful NASA missions ever launched. During two-thirds of its twenty-year lifetime, the Cassini spacecraft surveyed the planet Saturn and its majestic system of rings and satellites. Cassini probed Saturn's atmosphere, interior structure, and magnetic field. It illuminated the elaborate dance among moons and ring particles. It revealed the lakes and rivers of Titan and the subsurface ocean and geysers of Enceladus, two satellites with potentially habitable environments. During the Grand Finale phase of the mission, the spacecraft made daring close flybys between the atmosphere and inner ring before impacting the planet.
While the Cassini spacecraft was destroyed in its final plunge, the data it collected will continue to benefit the field of planetary science for decades. Come hear about this impressive mission from the lead scientist and distinguished UCLA EPSS alumna, Dr. Linda Spilker. Both the Washington Post and Business Insider have published informative profiles about Dr. Spilker.
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