Circled by distinctive rings and attended by a group of at least 18 moons, Saturn has been called one of the most intriguing planetary realms in the solar system. Its largest moon, Titan, boasts organic chemistry that may hold clues to how life formed on the primitive Earth. So it is that Saturn and Titan was the destination of the Cassini mission, a project by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The U.S. portion of the mission is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Cassini's principal objectives are:
Cassini was launched in October 1997 atop a Titan IV-Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Cassini first executed two gravity-assist flybys of Venus, then one each of the Earth and Jupiter to send it on to arrive at Saturn in July 2004. Upon reaching Saturn, Cassini will swing close to the planet -- to an altitude only one-sixth the diameter of Saturn itself -- to begin the first of some five dozen orbits during the rest of its four-year mission. In late 2004, the spacecraft released the European-built Huygens probe for its descent of up to two-and-a-half hours through the dense atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan. The instrument-laden probe beans its findings to the Cassini orbiter to be stored and finally relayed back to Earth. During the course of the Cassini orbiter's mission, it performed some three dozen close flybys of particular bodies of interest -- including more than 30 encounters of Titan and at least four of selected icy satellites of greatest interest. In addition, the orbiter will make at least two dozen more distant flybys of the Saturian moons. Cassini's orbits will also allow it to study Saturn's polar regions in addition to the planet's equatorial zone.
Cassini (1997)
(GIF, 87K)
This artist's rendering depicts the NASA/JPL Cassini spacecraft
in orbit around ringed Saturn (lower right background). At the
lower left, the European Space Agency's Huygens probe descends to
the surface of Saturn's moon Titan (in foreground).
(Courtesy NASA/JPL)
Huygens
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This artist's rendering shows the European Space Agency's Huygens
probe descending into the atmosphere of Saturn's
moon Titan after being released by NASA's
Cassini spacecraft.
(Courtesy ESA)
Huygens
(GIF, 80K)
This artist's rendering shows the European Space Agency's Huygens
probe descending into the atmosphere of Titan with Saturn in the
background.
(Courtesy ESA)
Huygens on Titan's Surface
(GIF, 58K)
This artist's rendering shows the Huygens probe on the surface of
Titan.
(Courtesy ESA)