Carolyn Porco
Carolyn Porco
Carolyn C. Porcois an American planetary scientist known for her work in the exploration of the outer solar system, beginning with her imaging work on the Voyager missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s. She leads the imaging science team on the Cassini mission currently in orbit around Saturn. She is an expert on planetary rings and the Saturnian moon, Enceladus...
dark sides spokes
We had convinced ourselves that conditions wouldn't be right for seeing spokes on the lit side of the rings until about 2007, ... But this finding seems to be telling us that conditions on the dark side of the rings are almost as good right now for seeing spokes.
powerful ocean blue
There is a powerful recognition that stirs within us when we see our little blue ocean planet in the skies of other worlds. In an instant we can see how small, fragile, and alone we all really are.
beautiful dream sublime
We humans, though troubled and warlike, are also the dreams, thinkers, and explorers inhabiting one achingly beautiful planet, yearning for the sublime, and capable of the magnificent.
faces scientist eternity
Being a scientist and staring immensity and eternity in the face every day is as grand and inspiring as it gets,
children comforting age
Let’s teach our children from a very young age about the story of the universe and its incredible richness and beauty. It is already so much more glorious and awesome – and even comforting – than anything offered by any scripture or God concept I know.
children grandma teaching
All the atoms of our bodies will be blown into space in the disintegration of the solar system, to live on forever as mass or energy. That's what we should be teaching our children, not fairy tales about angels and seeing grandma in Heaven.
spiritual people mind
The same spiritual fulfillment that people find in religion can be found in science by coming to know, if you will, the mind of God.
missions
Nothing will ever be what the Voyager mission was,
opportunity orbit remember
Remember, Voyager was just a flyby, Cassini is in orbit. We have the opportunity for monitoring them and their behavior, their comings and goings, how they evolve, when they appear and disappear.
adventure goal joy
It's been an adventure just getting out to Saturn, .. Saturn is such an alluring photographic target. It's a joy, really, to be able to take our images and composite them in an artful way, which is one of my cardinal working goals. It's about poetry and beauty and science all mixed together.
saturn planets solar-system
Saturn is the most photogenic planet in the solar system.
heart body littles
For planetary explorers like us, there is little that can compare to the sighting of activity on another solar system body. This has been a heart-stopper, and surely one of our most thrilling results.
understanding saturn spokes
Spokes are one of those Saturn-system phenomena that we are keenly interested in understanding.
stories quests insight
The quest for the truth, in and of itself, Is a story that's filled with insights.