Crashing Into Saturn: This Cassini Mission Is the Most Epic Yet | Short Film Showcase

Alone, Explorer on a mission to reveal the grandeur of Saturn, its rings and [Music] moons. After 20 years in space, NASA's Cassini spacecraft is running out of fuel. And so, to protect the moon of Saturn that could have conditions suitable for life, a spectacular end has been planned for this long-lived traveler.

From [Music] Earth, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and lift off of the Cassini spacecraft on a trillion-mile trek to Saturn. We have cleared the tower; which program is in? Program is in. In 20, 4 following a 7-year journey through the solar system, Cassini arrived at Saturn to the burn attitude or pointing position and light up the rockets.

The spacecraft carried a passenger, the European Huygens probe, the first human-made object to land on a world in the distant outer solar system. Its arrival on Saturn marked the beginning of a new chapter. For over a decade, Cassini has shared the wonders of Saturn and its family of icy moons, taking us to astounding worlds where methane rivers run to a methane sea, where jets of ice and gas are blasting material into space from a liquid water ocean that might harbor the ingredients for life, and Saturn, a giant world ruled by raging storms and delicate harmonies of gravity.

Now, Cassini has one last daring [Music] assignment. Cassini's Grand Finale is a brand new adventure: 22 dives through the space between Saturn and its rings. As it repeatedly braids this unexplored region, Cassini seeks new insights about the origins of the rings and the nature of the planet's interior.

Closer to Saturn than ever [Music] before, on the final orbit, Cassini will plunge into Saturn, fighting to keep its antenna pointed at Earth as it transmits its farewell. In the skies of Saturn, the journey [Music] ends as Cassini becomes part of the planet [Music] itself. [Music] [Music]