NASA To Destroy $3.25B Saturn Probe

Launched toward Saturn in 1997, the Cassini spacecraft has been in outer space nearly 20 years and is slowly running low on fuel. To avoid crashing and contaminating a nearby moon that is suspected to harbor alien life, NASA is going to destroy the robot. However, the agency will not do so until it can fly between Saturn and its rings and record as much data as possible.

Cassini's final quest will begin on April 23, flying over 76,000 miles per hour over an uncharted gap between Saturn and its rings. This is a quest no spacecraft has ever gone before. However, much like everything else, this good thing must come to an end. To avoid crashing into a possibly alien world, NASA will have to kill off its $3.26 billion probe, ending its mission on Sep. 15.

Popular Science noted that there are other spacecrafts that were allowed to keep orbiting their targets after the end of their missions. One such example is the Dawn spacecraft, which was orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres. However, things are more complicated around Saturn. Its gravitational push and pull from its many satellites could wreak havoc on the spacecraft's trajectory and could damage one of the alien worlds in the process. More specifically, it could crash into Titan or Enceladus, both of which may be capable of supporting alien life.

In a press conference held on April 4, Earl Maize, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said that the spacecraft's own discoveries led to its demise. After all, it was the craft that discovered the saltwater ocean hiding beneath the icy crust of Enceladus.

According to Maize, there is no way that the agency could risk inadvertent contact with such pristine celestial body. "Cassini has got to be put safely away. And since we wanted to stay at Saturn, the only choice was to destroy it in some controlled fashion," he said.