TRUTH BEHIND PHOTOGRAPH OF THE LAST THING NASA SPACECRAFT SAW BEFORE CRASHING INTO SATURN

Nothing excites NASA more than launching spacecraft into the uncharted emptiness of space in the hopes of discovering something fascinating and novel about the cosmos. The fiery conclusion of one of NASA's projects has started to go viral on TikTok, proving that not all projects are permanent. However, the issue is that truth isn't precisely driving it. Although the space agency is now setting the standard with the James Webb Space Telescope, space exploration predates the launch of the $10 billion spacecraft. The Cassini spacecraft was launched in 1997 by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA.

Fired into space almost 30 years ago, its purpose was to study Saturn and its system, primarily the rings surrounding the planet as well as its moons. A rriving in 2004, it became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn and remained there for nearly 20 years. But in 2017, it crashed and burned down on Earth, ending its time supporting humanity's scientific investigations. Cassini underwent what NASA called its 'Grand Finale' mission after its operational period was prolonged by many years. It successfully approached the planet to accomplish its last goals before it was time to purposefully crash into it to prevent possible contamination with the planet's moons, which are still the subject of intense astronomical research. It did this by traveling along some dangerous routes between Saturn and its inner rings.

It's final journey took place on 15 September, 2017. And according to videos on TikTok going viral this month, it sent one last photo upon its descent to Jupiter. Except it didn't.

The reality differs slightly from what is depicted on the social networking app, notwithstanding how beautiful the picture is, with Saturn's rings visible overhead. According to one video, which has received 6.4 million views, "The Cassini spacecraft's final image before it broke apart in Saturn's atmosphere shows a breathtaking vista of the planet from 639,000 kilometers distant.

"This image, taken in monochrome and then colourised with red, green, and blue spectral filters, shows part of Saturn illuminated by light reflected off its icy rings." Even while it seems incredible, that is not what actually occurred. In actuality, the picture below is an artist's interpretation of the last descent. Based on all NASA knows about the planet, this is how they imagined the last journey will appear, and you can find it here on the NASA website. It demonstrates how widely an image from space that is presented as something it isn't may propagate in the current era of so-called "fake news" without people realizing what they are actually looking at.

Fortunately, a few wise TikTokers expressed this opinion. One person commented: "A picture of Cassini plunging into Saturn was taken. The picture is not this one. This rendition is by an artist.”

The irony is that this is an artist's interpretation rather than the true image. However, it's still lovely.