schneiderism

Today, July 29, 2008, marks the 50th anniversary of the inception of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The year was 1958, the race for space was heating up fast with the Soviet’s successful launch of the first orbiting satellite, Sputnik, in October of 1957. NASA was, in many ways, a reaction to this event. That first team for NASA came out swinging, though, and they set about an intense range of projects motivated by the urgings of a passionate President. The first 25 years saw amazing accomplishments (Mercury, Apollo, putting astronauts on the moon, Viking, Voyager, Mariner, Skylab, the space-shuttle…) relatively swelled budgets, and endless manpower. The next 25 also saw great accomplishments (Hubble, ISS, Cassini, Mars exploration…), but mixed with the challenges of changed national priorities, increased international competition, the limitations of the space-shuttle, the slowed progress of the ISS, and budgetary constraints. Along the way there have been horrible tragedies and incredibly prolific failures, but when you push the technological envelope and seek to expand the boundaries of human experience there are inevitable risks involved. The astronauts that have died knew these risks well, and still came to work. I would like to believe that the tragedies have been more than balanced by the successes, by the amazing discoveries, and by the advancement of science. NASA has inspired generations, myself included, and provided the United States with a vital rallying point for an optimistic belief in the future of our nation, and for humanity. From those that have been inspired by NASA have sprung incredible private space ventures like that of Burt Rutan and Richard Branson, the Lunar X Prize, and the inevitable development of space tourism.

NASA is definitely not without its problems, but what large publicly funded organization isn’t? The fact is that NASA has been with us for 50 years, has achieved a great deal, and has a plan for the future of the United States in space.

The Cassini robot explorer, written about here before, will hit the four year mark on June 30th in the relentless pursuit of its prime mission to explore Saturn and its many moons. After June 30th Cassini is operating in bonus territory, as it was not expected that the probe would last this long or work this well. They call this additional time the “extended mission”. Obviously, everyone is ecstatic as the Cassini mission has been profoundly successful in sending us back invaluable information and images of Saturn (like the one above of Saturn’s rings), as well as the moons Titan, Enceladus, Dione, Tethys, Phoebe and Iapetus. In many ways the discoveries regarding Saturn’s moons has largely overshadowed the many, many findings with regards to Saturn itself.

Following the work of Cassini has been like following your favorite band on tour. Nearly every month the mission team has reported more incredible findings or provided another series of stunning images. This page from the mission website catalogs dozens of events and accomplishments. This year alone Cassini has scheduled over a dozen different flybys to allow the use of the craft’s Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UIS), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS), and Radio Science Subsystem. Cassini is packed with gear, and it is not only amazing that it all is still working as planned, but that it made it there in the first place. Congratulations to the Cassini-Huygens mission team on the four year anniversary.