Scientists Don't Want You to Call Cassini's End a 'Suicide'
Anthropomorphizing robots is one thing, but some say news reports about the spacecraft risk being insensitive.
The end of the Cassini mission was a bittersweet event. On the one hand, the orbiter coasted through unexplored territory on Friday morning, collecting and transmitting data about Saturn that could help scientists solve some of the planet’s biggest mysteries. On the other hand, it smashed into Saturn’s atmosphere and completely disintegrated in a matter of minutes.
So it follows that many headlines and reports about Cassini’s demise (including ours) skewed dark before the big day. Here’s a sampling: “Saturn probe turns toward its death plunge.” “.” “.”
