Cassini gives Iapetus a wide berth
The Cassini probe will not pass as close to the moon Iapetus as originally planned because of fears that the flyby will disturb the path of the $3.3bn space craft
Cassini gives Iapetus a wide berth
The Cassini probe will not pass as close to the moon Iapetus as originally planned because of fears that the flyby will disturb the path of the $3.3bn space craft en route to Titan. Scientists have now tweaked the route so that Cassini will pass Iapetus from a greater, and therefore safer, distance, The Denver Post reports.
Larry Esposito, a space scientist at the University of Colorado and a member of NASA's Cassini science team said that the team was under a great deal of scrutiny.
After the failure of Beagle 2, and the crash-landing on the Genesis probe in Utah, the scientists on the team are doing everything they can in advance of the Huygens probe being dispatched to Titan to minimise the risks it faces. After all, this is a European-built Land