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Goodbye, Cassini

Just ahead of the dramatic end manoeuvre for the Cassini probe, Adam talks to some Welsh scientists closely involved in this remarkable space mission to Saturn.

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 17 Sep 2017 06:31

The Ringed Planet

Almost twenty years ago, the Cassini-Huygens mission was launched with considerable optimism聽and ahead of its dramatic, end manoeuvre on Friday,聽Adam and guests take a look at its achievements. It takes a very special spacecraft to journey where no craft has ventured before. By diving through the narrow gap between Saturn and it's icy rings, the Cassini-Huygens probe has gathered unprecedented information about the planet and our universe. And scientists in Wales have played a major part.聽

Prof Manuel Grande, head of solar systems physics at Aberystwyth University, was involved in the mission from the very early days, working on some of the聽spacecraft's instruments, such as the Plasma Spectrometer and Cosmic Dust Analyzer. Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder at Cardiff University,聽has been closely observing聽Saturn's moons, including the methanol rich Enceladus moon. And Dr Chris聽Arridge, who first studied the planets at Aberystwyth University and now teaches at Lancaster聽University,聽examined聽some of the early聽data聽collected by Cassini-Huygens.

They share their excitement over what has already been revealed - and what might be discovered in the future.聽聽聽聽聽聽

Broadcasts

  • Tue 12 Sep 2017 18:30
  • Sun 17 Sep 2017 06:31

Adam Walton

Adam Walton

Adam's "other job" - tune in every Saturday at 10 PM for the best new music from Wales.