NASA's Cassini spacecraft ends its historic exploration of Saturn

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A thrilling epoch in the exploration of our solar system has come to a close, as NASA's Cassini spacecraft made a fateful plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn, ending its 13-year tour of the ringed planet. Cassini's plunge brings to a close a series of 22 dives between Saturn and its rings, a feat never before attempted by any spacecraft.
via Science Daily
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Graphene-wrapped nanocrystals makes inroads toward next-gen fuel cells

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A new study provides insight into how an ultrathin coating can enhance the performance of graphene-wrapped nanocrystals for hydrogen storage applications.
via Science Daily

Cassini's Final Image

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As planned, the Cassini spacecraft impacted the upper atmosphere of Saturn on September 15, after a 13 year long exploration of the Saturnian System. With spacecraft thrusters firing until the end, its atmospheric entry followed an unprecedented series of 22 Grand Finale dives between Saturn and rings. Cassini's final signal took 83 minutes to reach planet Earth and the Deep Space Network antenna complex in Canberra Australia where loss of contact with the spacecraft was recorded at 11:55 UT. For the spacecraft, Saturn was bright and the Sun was overhead as it plowed into the gas giant planet's swirling cloud tops at about 70,000 miles (113,000 kilometers) per hour. But Cassini's final image shows the impact site hours earlier and still on the planet's night side, the cloud tops illuminated by ringlight, sunlight reflected from Saturn's rings.

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Tough stuff: Spider silk enhanced with graphene-based materials

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Natural spider silk has excellent mechanical properties. Researchers have now found a way to boost the strength of spider's silk using graphene-based materials, paving the way for a novel class of high-performance bionic composites.
via Science Daily

Back to Saturn? Five Missions Proposed to Follow Cassini

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Although NASA does not have yet a follow-up mission to Saturn on its schedule, scientists are dreaming up ideas for one.
via New York Times