{"id":22299,"date":"2017-09-15T12:45:17","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T16:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=22299"},"modified":"2017-09-15T12:45:17","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T16:45:17","slug":"physicists-career-launched-cassini-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/physicists-career-launched-cassini-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Physicist’s Career Launched by Cassini Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

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by Zenaida Kotala<\/p>\n

When NASA\u2019s Cassini mission ends on Sept. 15 by plunging into Saturn\u2019s atmosphere, one UCF professor will be reminiscing about the mission that launched his career and the family he\u2019s made throughout the almost 20-year journey.<\/p>\n

Physics Professor Josh Colwell began working on the Cassini mission right out of graduate school after his mentor tapped him for the job. Larry Esposito had been selected to lead the team that would be responsible for the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph instrument that has given scientists so much amazing data about Saturn.<\/p>\n

Since then, Colwell has continued to work with the team and has gone on to participate in several other NASA missions as well as microgravity flights with commercial space companies. The reason he became a planetary scientist was to dive into a single question: How did the solar system form?<\/p>\n

The findings Cassini has produced since arriving at Saturn in 2004 have often surprised and pushed scientists to explain the mysterious rings around the planet, whose origin is still unknown. Saturn still has many secrets about its interior, hidden beneath its thick atmosphere. Even the length of Saturn\u2019s day has been difficult to measure. Cassini\u2019s final orbits may unlock some of these mysteries.<\/p>\n

Some results:<\/p>\n