Welcome back to Discuss "Cosmos: Possible Worlds".
In the first class, we will discuss Episode 8, "The Sacrifice of Cassini".
First, watch this, from the first Cosmos series:
Assignments
• If you are new to the class (did not take Part 1 in fall term 2020), it would be helpful to watch Episode 1 of Cosmos: Possible Worlds, "Ladder to the Stars". Particularly, watch from 27:00, an introduction to the Cosmic Calendar, a device for coming to grips with the time-span of this series, and our Universe: 13.8 billion years.
• Watch Episode 8 of Cosmos: Possible Worlds, "The Sacrifice of Cassini".
• Read and think about the poem you received in the course-welcome letter: Enceladus Considers Cassini, by Carolyn Oliver.
• Submit your questions, comments, suggested readings, and suggestions using the form at the bottom of this (and every) page at this course website. Your contributions will appear below under Questions for Discussion.
• Look over Other Resources, below.
To think about
• Are there inanimate objects in your life -- such as tools, electronic devices, vehicles, books -- that you feel personally attached to, and almost think of as living things?
• How to astronomy and astrology differ from each other? What does it mean to assert that one is "scientific" and the other is not?
• What were early hints that the propagation of light is not instantaneous, that is, that the speed of light is not infinite?
• How was the speed of light first measured?
• When a spacecraft uses a planet as a slingshot, does it violate the conservation of energy (aka the First Law of Thermodynamics)? Where does the energy that speeds up the spacecraft come from?
Questions for Discussion
STUDENT QUESTIONS APPEAR HERE:
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The Cassini/Huygens mission required 3 gravity assists (2 Venus, 1 Earth)
and it took 2 years in the inner solar system to get the spacecraft on its
way to Jupiter and Saturn. Then she spent 13 years exploring before her
dive. This gives me pause when it comes to manned exploration. I would be
interested in what others think about manned exploration.
Also, I found an excellent video about gravitational assists.
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Other Resources
• Read more about the Cassini mission HERE.
• Watch Cassini's grand finale, as broadcast on National Geographic:
• Watch an animation of the full travels of Cassini :
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