4 ms·
I think the assumption is that any onboard life would be destroyed by the descent into Saturn.
by anoother 9y ago
I think the assumption is that any onboard life would be destroyed by the descent into Saturn.
- swasheck 9y agoThis is the key point and deserves more attention. Mission control was not concerned with space junk impacting the moons. They were concerned with biological contamination altering potential evolutionary trajectories on any of the moons. Saturn's atmosphere was deemed to be sufficient to cause the requisite friction and head to cleanse Cassini from any such potential contaminants.