Cassini Spacecraft Catches Some Interstellar Space Dust
- 8 years ago
NASA's Cassini spacecraft recently came into possession of some interstellar space dust.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected the presence of dust from beyond our solar system, according to a study recently published in the journal Science.
Since 2004, Cassini has been in Saturn's orbit to study the planet, its rings and moons. In the process, it has sampled millions of grains of dust through its cosmic dust analyzer instrument--most of which has come from the massive planet's geologically active moon Enceladus.
But 36 of those grains are genuinely interstellar--that is, they come from the vast space between the stars.
And they were traveling at over 45,000 miles per hour--fast enough to avoid the gravity exerted by any body in the solar system.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected the presence of dust from beyond our solar system, according to a study recently published in the journal Science.
Since 2004, Cassini has been in Saturn's orbit to study the planet, its rings and moons. In the process, it has sampled millions of grains of dust through its cosmic dust analyzer instrument--most of which has come from the massive planet's geologically active moon Enceladus.
But 36 of those grains are genuinely interstellar--that is, they come from the vast space between the stars.
And they were traveling at over 45,000 miles per hour--fast enough to avoid the gravity exerted by any body in the solar system.