NASA's coverage of Cassini spacecraft's final moments earns Emmy nomination

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) has nominated NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for Outstanding Original Interactive Program for its coverage of the Cassini mission's Grand Finale at Saturn.The Primetime Emmys will be awarded by the ATAS in Los Angeles on 17 September.The Creative Arts Emmys, which include interactive awards, will be presented during a separate ceremony on 15 September at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, NASA said in a statement on Friday.In 2017, after nearly 20 years in space and 13 years revealing the wonders of Saturn, NASA's Cassini orbiter was running out of fuel. As a final act, Cassini began a whole new mission — its Grand Finale, where it journeyed into the unknown and ended with a spectacular plunge into the planet.Cassini's first, daring dive into the unexplored space between the giant planet and its rings kicked off the campaign on 26 April in 2017.It culminated on 15 September, 2017, with live coverage of Cassini's plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, with the spacecraft sending back science to the very last second.[caption id="attachment_4223083" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

This image of Saturn's rings is one of the last pictures sent by Cassini back to the Earth. Image courtesy: NASA[/caption]JPL created a multi-month digital campaign to celebrate the mission's science and engineering accomplishments and communicate why the spacecraft must meet its end in the skies of Saturn.The multi-faceted campaign included regular updates on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and the Cassini mission website, multiple live social, web and TV broadcasts during which reporter and public questions were answered.A dramatic short film to communicate the mission's story and preview its endgame; multiple 360-degree videos, including NASA's first 360-degree livestream of a mission event from inside JPL mission control.The Emmy Awards nominations have turned out to be more diverse than last year. Fantasy drama "Game of Thrones" has earned 22 nominations for the coveted Awards, while HBO's 17-year streak as the most nominated network has been broken by Netflix.