30 Jun
2004
30 Jun
'04
10:07 p.m.
Hi, Michael Carnes wrote:
Hey Patrick - I was really surprised at the 90-minute burn. That must be a very low-thrust engine. I'd imagine that a longer burn at low intensity would give a lot more control over velocity.
Yes, very low thrust engine (something like 40 or 50 kg). BTW, they just passed closest approach (20,500 km) and confirmed that Cassini has already been captured by Saturn but that there's another 6 minutes left in the burn. 'Course this is all in Earth Received Time. all the data we're seeing now actually happened 90 minutes ago. Go Cassini! Patrick :-)