[meteorite-list] Cassini Sends Final Close Views of Odd Moon Hyperion

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4608

Cassini Sends Final Close Views of Odd Moon Hyperion
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
June 2, 2015

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has returned images from its final close approach 
to Saturn's oddball moon Hyperion, upholding the moon's reputation as 
one of the most bizarre objects in the solar system. The views show Hyperion's 
deeply impact-scarred surface, with many craters displaying dark material 
on their floors.

Raw, unprocessed images from the May 31 flyby are available via the Cassini 
mission website at:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw

A selection of some of the images is also available from the Cassini imaging 
team's website at:

http://www.ciclops.org/view_event/208/HYPERION-REV-216-RAW-PREVIEW

During this flyby, Cassini passed Hyperion at a distance of about 21,000 
miles (34,000 kilometers) at closest approach. Cassini's closest-ever 
Hyperion flyby took place on Sept. 26, 2005, at a distance of 314 miles 
(505 kilometers).

Hyperion is the largest of Saturn's irregular, or potato-shaped, moons 
and may be the remnant of a violent collision that shattered a larger 
object into pieces. Cassini scientists attribute Hyperion's peculiar, 
sponge-like appearance to the fact that it has an unusually low density 
for such a large object -- about half that of water. Its low density indicates 
Hyperion is quite porous, with weak surface gravity. These characteristics 
mean impactors tend to compress the surface, rather than excavating it, 
and most material that is blown off the surface never returns.

Cassini will make several more close flybys of Saturn's moons this year 
before departing the planet's equatorial plane to begin a year-long setup 
of the mission's daring final act. For its grand finale, set for 2017, 
Cassini will repeatedly dive through the space between Saturn and its 
rings.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European 
Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for the agency's Science 
Mission Directorate in Washington. The Cassini imaging operations center 
is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. The California 
Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Cassini, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/cassini

and

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov


Media Contact

Preston Dyches
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-7013
preston.dyches at jpl.nasa.gov 

2015-188