Missions in Space - Cassini-Huygens
Launch - 15 October 1997
The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is a joint NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) mission to explore Saturn, its rings and many of its orbiting moons. The probe arrived safely in orbit around Saturn back in June 2004 and will spend at least 4 years collecting information about the system.
Artist's impression of Cassini-Huygens spacecraft in orbit around Saturn
© NASA/ESA
During the tour of Saturn, Cassini will complete 74 orbits of the ringed planet, 44 close flybys of the hazy moon Titan, and numerous flybys of Saturn's other icy moons. So far, scientists have made a wealth of discoveries, including the discovery of massive storms in the atmosphere of Saturn that rage for months on end and see windspeeds of over 1800 km/h, and the discovery of liquid water volcanoes on Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Artists's impression of Huygens lander (left) and images of Titan surface
© NASA/ESA
Detailed images from Cassini's many instruments have shown there to be far more icy material in Saturn's rings than had been expected, with small moons orbiting inside the rings and creating small gaps.
More fascinating discoveries came with the descent of the European Huygens probe into Titan's cloudy atmosphere. Astronomers chose Titan because it is one of the few moons in our Solar System with its own atmosphere, in part due to it being bigger than the planets Mercury and Pluto.
Artists's impression of Huygens lander (left) and images of Titan surface
© NASA/ESA
Parachutes were deployed to slow the probe and to provide a stable platform for scientific measurements. Instruments on board collected information about the atmosphere's chemical composition and the clouds surrounding Titan. During the two and a half hour descent toward a landing on Titan's frozen surface, the on-board camera was able to take exciting images showing what looked like rivers, coastlines and oceans. Two of these images can be see above, next to an artist's impression of the Huygens lander.
