Fate of Cassini Decided

Cassini is eventually going to run out of power, since it has no solar panels and the nuclear reactor on board only has so much fuel.  Now, NASA could leave it floating around Saturn forever, but they won't.  Much like the Galileo probe, Cassini is going to take a dive into Saturn's atmosphere, sending back valuable data and spectacular images until the very end.

Why do this to a space probe that's done so much?  After all, we didn't send the Voyager probes into any planets.  In both Galileo and Cassini's cases, NASA wants to protect potential biospheres from any interference from Earth.  Both Titan and Enceladus could host life, and we don't want to introduce any foreign objects into a pristine ecosystem until we're sure we won't do it any harm.  Now, Cassini still has two and a half years before this happens, so there's still plenty of time left in its mission.  But after Cassini goes, there won't be much human presence in the outer solar system.  There are plans for probes to go to all of the moons that potentially host life out there, but for now, that's all they are, and it'll be a while before they get off the ground, if at all.  So, enjoy Cassini while it's still there.

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