Cassini–Huygens
hideCassini–Huygens is a joint NASA/ESA/ASI robotic spacecraft mission currently studying the planet Saturn and its moons. The spacecraft consists of two main elements: the NASA Cassini orbiter, named after the Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, and the ESA Huygens probe, named after the Dutch astronomer, mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens. It was launched on October 15, 1997 and entered into orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. On December 25, 2004 the Huygens probe separated from the orbiter at approximately 02:00 UTC; it reached Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005 where it made an atmospheric descent to the surface and relayed scientific information. On April 18, 2008, NASA announced a two year extension of the mission. Cassini is the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn and the fourth to visit it.
Hundreds of scientists and engineers from 16 European countries and 33 of the United States make up the team responsible for designing, building, flying and collecting data from the Cassini orbiter and Huygens probe. The mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the orbiter was designed and assembled. Development of the Huygens Titan probe was managed by the European Space Research and Technology Centre, whose prime contractor for the probe is Alcatel in France. Equipment and instruments for the probe were supplied from many countries. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) provided Cassini's high-gain communication antenna, and a revolutionary compact and light-weight multimode radar (synthetic aperture radar, radar altimeter, radiometer).
For more information about Cassini–Huygens, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with cassini spacecraft
Image: Prometheus Plays Tug of War with One of Saturn's Rings
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
15 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The diminutive moon Prometheus whips gossamer ice particles out of Saturn's F ring in this image taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Aug. 21, 2009.
Cassini Sends Back Images of Enceladus as Winter Nears
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sailed seamlessly through the Nov. 21 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus and started transmitting uncalibrated temperature data and images of the rippling terrain. ...
Cassini's Big Sky: The View from the Center of Our Solar System
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When NASA's Cassini spacecraft began orbiting Saturn five years ago, a dozen highly-tuned science instruments set to work surveying, sniffing, analyzing and scrutinizing the Saturnian system.
Before Darkness Falls: Cassini to Scan Enceladus on Winter's Cusp
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft will fly by Saturn's moon Enceladus this weekend for a last peek at the intriguing "tiger stripes" before winter darkness blankets the area for several years.
Ghostly 'Spokes' Puff Out From Saturn's Ring's (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Massive, bright clouds of tiny ice particles hover above the darkened rings of Saturn in an image captured by the Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 22, 2009, around the time of Saturn's equinox. ...
Successful Flight Through Enceladus Plume (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Cassini has started sending data back from its Nov. 2 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
A long night falls over Saturn's rings
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 24, 2009 |
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As Saturn's rings orbit the planet, a section is typically in the planet's shadow, experiencing a brief night lasting from 6 to 14 hours. However, once approximately every 15 years, night falls over the entire ...
Cassini Data Help Redraw Shape of Solar System (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Images from the Ion and Neutral Camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggest that the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may not have the comet-like shape predicted by existing ...
Hot Debate over Icy Moon
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 08, 2009 |
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The recent discovery of plumes containing water vapor erupting from the south pole of the frigid Saturnian moon Enceladus set off a firestorm of debate.
'Inverse Energy Cascade' May Energize Jupiter's Jet Streams
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Jupiter's intense and persistent jet streams could be triggered by small-scale energy events, a planetary sciences graduate student reports.
Longest lightning storm on Saturn breaks Solar System record
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 15, 2009 |
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A powerful lightning storm in Saturn’s atmosphere that began in mid-January 2009 has become the Solar System’s longest continuously observed thunderstorm. It broke the record duration of 7.5 months set by ...
Saturn Moon Could Power 150 Billion Labor Day Barbecues
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Since its discovery by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1655, Saturn's most massive moon, Titan, has been known as a place of mystery and intrigue. The large, cloud-enshrouded moon is ...
Evidence for ocean on Enceladus: Tiny Saturn Moon Could Be Targeted in Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Plumes spewing from a tiny moon of Saturn - a moon roughly the width of Arizona - are filled with molecules that suggest that the moon, Enceladus, is likely another place in the solar system ...
How the moon got its stripes
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 15, 2009 |
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A new study has revealed the origins of tiger stripes and a subsurface ocean on Enceladus- one of Saturn's many moons. These geological features are believed to be the result of the moon's unusual chemical ...
Jets on Saturn's moon Enceladus not geysers from underground ocean
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jun 24, 2009 |
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Water vapor jets that spew from the surface of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus are not really geysers from an underground ocean as initially envisioned by planetary scientists, according to a study led by the ...
