Cassini/Huygens success!

[amicus]

Twenty years ago the concept, fourteen years ago, the vision, seven years ago, the launch...700 million miles later orbital insertion around Saturn, July 1st, 2K4.

A seven year long flight path, a distance that takes light/radio waves nearly an hour and a half to travel; successful onboard confirmation that every system has nominal function.

A grand achievement by JPL, NASA, Science and Technology, Lockheed Martin and dozens of other contractors, hundreds of dedicated men and women around the world in thousands of differing pursuits.

Congratulations Mankind!

Amicus...

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Thank you Amicus.

Amid news of Saddam's trial, corporate shenanigans, election year politics and assorted scandals, it's strange that such a monumental achievement dosen't even rate a headline on Yahoo news's page.

Sad state of affairs, but an impresive achievement nonetheless.

-Colly

 

[Guest]

 

[Colleen Thomas]

An impressive achievement indeed.

Amid all of the competition for government funding it's good to recall that the effort to put a man on the moon is what "launched" the computer revolution first as hand held scientific calculators to the Commadore 64 and finally the PC as we know it today.

Who knows what technological advances may come from such efforts as Cassini/Huygens?

Lime

Best of all it's a true joint venture, with Nasa, the european space agency and the Itlaian space agency all contributing and scientists from 17 different countries participating.



-Colly

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

I agree with all that was said here. The mission got a full page in the paper here. Impressive stuff.

 

[amicus]

Had hoped to post a 'non political' appreciation for the folks at The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology and those at Lockheed Martin and the hundreds of other 'private sector' companies that made Cassini possible.

Yes, it was a joint venture and yes, government funding is most certainly evident, however...

The Commodore 64K machine owed more to Nobel Prizewinner Dr. Shockley's invention of the transistor, in the 50's than it did to the race to the moon.

The only power government has is to take money from some and give it to others.

amicus...

 

[Guest]