+++
author = ["authors/jenna.md"]
categories = "Humour"
date = "2017-09-17T16:17:00-04:00"
lastmod = "2017-09-20T13:18:00-04:00"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1505692549427/2017-09-17---7547_PIA20506_full.jpg.jpg"
primary_image_credit = "Saturn's rings. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute."
publishDate = "2017-09-20T11:20:00-04:00"
related_articles = ["articles/star-trek-and-the-opera.md","articles/rhoda-and-the-fossil-hunt-where-opera-meets-science.md"]
short_description = "Cassini&#039;s research is catalogued by NASA with some pretty stunning images. Giving a different kind of tribute - one that&#039;s a bit more operatic - is the one and only Robert Picard, whom you may know The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager. It&#039;s not his first time straddling the worlds of space exploration and opera; we recounted a few gems a few years back."
slug = "robert-picardo-giving-cassini-the-farewell-it-deserves"
title = "Robert Picardo, giving Cassini the farewell it deserves"
+++

On Friday, September 15, 2017, NASA's [Cassini Spacecraft ended 13 years of exploring](https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/3121/nasas-cassini-spacecraft-ends-its-historic-exploration-of-saturn/) Saturn and its moons with an "intentional plunge" into the planet. "Cassini may be gone, but its scientific bounty will keep us occupied for many years," says Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We've only scratched the surface of what we can learn from the mountain of data it has sent back over its lifetime."

Cassini's research is catalogued by NASA with some pretty [stunning images](https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images/). Giving a different kind of tribute - one that's a bit more operatic - is the one and only Robert Picard, whom you may know The Doctor on *Star Trek: Voyager*. It's not his first time straddling the worlds of space exploration and opera; we recounted a few gems [a few years back](/star-trek-and-the-opera/).

<figure data-type="image">{{% md %}}![](https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1505692715475/2017-09-17---Picardo.jpg.jpg)
<figcaption>Robert Picardo, aka The Doctor in *Star Trek: Voyager*</figcaption>
</figure>

In a special rendition of one of the Doc's favourites - "La donna è mobile" - Picardo gives an adorable nod to Cassini and its extraordinary journey:

<figure data-type="video">
<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pPnZQIkSNmU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</figure>

He's no Duke of Mantua, but who cares?
