
Cassini's Last Photos Will Be Spectacular - adventured
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-09-05/cassini-s-last-photos-will-be-spectacular
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kristofferR
This short video from NASA about Cassini's Grand Finale is worth watching!

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrGAQCq9BMU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrGAQCq9BMU)

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lisper
Wow, I think that's the single best space video I have ever seen. I'm wiping
away a few tears even as I type this.

I was working at JPL during the 1990s when Cassini was being assembled so I
actually got to see it with my own eyes before it launched. This feels like
losing an old friend.

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spookyuser
The production value alone was incredible. I was expecting to see a Directed
by Christopher Nolan at the end.

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rdiddly
_" Nevertheless, this moon might have the right stuff to provide the complex
chemistry that's needed to create a suitable environment for life."_

 _"...tides and radioactive elements, which could provide important catalysts
for the development of life. Future missions to Enceladus can be designed to
look for evidence of life..."_

Oh jeez get over it will ya? Life life life. How living-centric of you. Check
your alive privilege.

OK I'm joking about that part, but surely there must be a few good reasons to
explore space besides whatever it has to do with _life_ and the support
thereof? Is an _ocean of liquid methane_ not interesting in its own right?

I genuinely wonder whether people who write like this are going to be totally
disappointed and give up space exploration if they find there's no life out
there. Which (let's be honest) is what they will probably find. Or is it more
that they're trying to pander to the reader because they think that's all we
care about?

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pavanred
I am incredibly excited about such missions and love reading/following them
but really, why "should" we explore space?

Edit: Let me clarify why I ask this, I had once seen some documentary where a
marine biologist makes a point something to the effect of - we understand less
about our deep oceans than space, but there is a huge delta in our research
spending on each. So, why are certain fields more important for research than
others, in short, why space?

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na85
Because great discovery has no roadmap.

When the Electron was discovered it was useless, and now it runs our entire
world. Who can say where undirected research and exploration may lead us?

