Cassini-Huygens on NOVA
Image Credit: Steven Hobbs (and NASA)
This week, NOVA, the acclaimed science documentary series on PBS pays tribute to the Cassini-Huygens mission. Voyage to the Mystery Moon chronicles the voyage undertaken by NASA and the European Space Agency to Saturn and Titan. From the program description:
A story of curiosity and imagination, this program highlights how many big questions remain unanswered about our own solar system and just how much we have yet to explore. Saturn, with its unique and beautifully constructed rings and diverse set of moons, holds mysteries that have tantalized researchers ever since the Voyager probes sent back breathtaking pictures of this wondrous planet.
This promises to be a fantastic show, illustrating the project’s history and how it came to fruition, as well as recapping what scientists have learned from the mission thus far — and what unanswered questions remain.
Check your local listings for air dates and times. (I’ll be watching immediately after posting this entry!)
In the off-chance you don’t have access to Public Broadcasting, the program’s website provides a pair of interactive features: Sounds of Titan and Anatomy of the Rings. They’ve also posted a neat interview with Bruce Betts, Director of Projects for The Planetary Society, who explains the mechanics and details behind the sounds recorded by Cassini-Huygens and transmitted back to Earth.
NOVA Podcast: David Levin speaks with Bruce Betts.
Added 8:15 PM CDT:
Wow, the show did not dissapoint.
Predictably, the program focused predominantly upon Huygens’ exploration of Titan, but was very nicely up-to-date in all, even including the recent discovery of active cryovolcanism on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The CGI animation sequences, like those tracing Cassini’s 2 billion mile trek to Saturn as well as Huygens’ deployment and descent, were marvelous (well, aside from the depiction of sounds in space, but I reckon non-existent ear candy for the general public has become par for the course).
Also included was ample footage from the control rooms during Cassini’s orbital insertion as well as Huygens’ descent, which very nicely conveyed the tense moments experienced at JPL and ESOC during these crucial times in the mission. Revisiting those events really made me appreciate all the more having watched them live.
Something I’d not quite anticipated was the abundance of commentaries provided by scientists working on the project. It was a veritable who’s who, yielding in-depth visits with Jonathan Lunine, Carolyn Porco, Ralph Lorenz, Martin Tomasko, John Zarnecki, Robert Mitchell, Jean-Pierre Lebreton, Larry Esposito, Charles Elachi, Leonid Gurvitz, and Robert Brown.
Voyage to the Mystery Moon was a joy to watch, dramatic, inspiring, and thought provoking. I highly recommend watching it if you have the opportunity — you’ll walk away from the documentary with an increased appreciation for Cassini-Huygens’ historic mission to the Saturnian system.
8 Responses to “Cassini-Huygens on NOVA”
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Great review, Wolve, yes it was very interesting. But then is Cassini-Huygens ever not interesting? I like the Planetary Society link, too. I hope they rebroadcast it again, because I missed some of it while emailing somebody (could hear it but not see it).
That interactive NOVA Saturn ring link is very good–they have a comparison size picture of Earth to the rings (I like those). Like my sun/earth photo, it makes me feel very, very small, lol. You should post those links on BAUT (if you haven’t yet).
Back to “If the Cassini spacecraft were a person”
…then I’d really consider marriage.
Back to “If the Cassini spacecraft were a person”
…then I’d really consider marriage.
You see it takes a stellar person to consider marriage when you’re in a divorce-laden family. Geesh, I’m so in shock–I just heard my little sister is getting divorced! She’s 11 years younger than me and only married in 2003 (she’s real cute, btw). They have a condo near my parents’ FL house, besides their house in Orlando.
You see, a floating telescope is more dependable. It takes beautiful pictures, it communicates to you, and it gives you a lot of latitude…it also has dine engineering. I think I’ll be the last standing “never married/never divorced” person around (except for my friend Bill who is 17 yrs older than me).
~in shock~
…that would be “fine engineering.” (wishing for edit capability)
Double shock. My multi-millionaire brother-in-law kicked her out. He’s a decent guy, just very difficult to converse with. He’s also a gambler, poker player, and most often wins. She didn’t play her cards right and he’s calling her bluff–bigtime. So sad.
I hope she gets to keep the kayak at our house there. (lol, ok that’s tacky)
Eek! Sorry to hear.
(Apologies, BTW, I meant to comment on this yesterday and forgot…)
I’ve never been hitched, and haven’t been in a hurry to get there. If it happens someday, so be it. If not, that’s fine too. A lot of my friends think I’m weird because I’ve never been married and have no kids. I only know two other people in the same boat.
If it makes you feel better my PhD, one-question-wrong-on-his-SATs, world traveller, Yale, Cambridge, Harvard grad, one fat published book, has met four presidents, blah, blah, blah…isn’t married, he’s my age and has no kids.
AND he’s a good guy–been my friend since 1987. (In fact, he’s in Paris right now, invited me since he rented an apartment, and I didn’t renew my passport! Stupid…must do that soon….) He’s was with a woman for a couple of years, but it didn’t work out. He’s a real good person, he’s in good shape, lives in DC…I don’t know why he has it so hard (but then he won’t just date anyone either).
My friend who is 17 yrs older than me is a multi-talented guy, good-looking, smart, etc, and he’s never been married and have kids. One advantage to this is I get to keep them as friends. (And there’s a bunch more still single.) They’re always happy to hear I’m not even trying.
is there a tv link to view this program or this program is just to listen only?
the interactive part also can give the answers of the question of the peoples all over the world?
Hi Sunil, I’m not aware of a video link for the program, unfortunately. It’s part of a science series that airs here in the US on our public broadcasting network (the audio clip I linked above is just part of the interactive features from the PBS website — the show itself is an hour-long video documentary). It’s a shame there isn’t one available, I’m sure you’d enjoy the program.