NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute
of Technology
Cassini's First Dive Between
Saturn and Its Rings
[ ♪ ]
[ Linda Spilker, Cassini
Project Scientist ]
Cassini dove in between
the rings and the planet
for the very first time.
So at midnight tonight
will be the first time
Cassini turns back to the Earth,
sends a signal and lets us know 
that is successfully
navigated through this gap
where it's flown for the
very, very first time.
[ mission control chatter ]
Systems, radio science...
We have X-band carrier
signal detection.
[ applause ]
[ Earl Maize, Cassini
Project Manager ]
Um, we've got a booming carrier.
Everything looks great.
We're just now
waiting for the data.
[ quiet chatter ]
[ Ace ] Ansco systems,
Cassini Ace.
I can confirm we
have a good lock on
the 66360 bit rate
data at this time.
You should see it!
[ applause ]
Cassini Ace. I confirm
that the science playback
is in lock and starting to run.
[ cheers ]
Copy.
[ applause ]
Cassini is safely
sending back data!
[ Actual raw images ]
[ Jim Green, NASA Planetary
Science Division Director ]
Cassini is a mission of firsts.
Time and time again it has
continued to surprise us.
Astounding observations!
It has changed our
thinking irrevocably.
[ Spilker ] Onward to
the Grand Finale!
[ cheers, applause ]
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
00:01:47.374,00:00:00.000
California Institute
of Technology
