Cassini/Huygens will carry out an in-depth exploration of the Saturnian system. On October 15, 1996 the spacecraft was launched on its interplanetary journey. On the way to Saturn, Cassini/Huygens, will flyby Venus, twice (April 26, 1998; June 24, 1999), the Earth once (August 18, 1999), and Jupiter (December 30, 2000). On approach to Saturn, the small satellite Phoebe will be encountered on June 11, 2004. Upon arrival at Saturn on July 1, 2004, Cassini/Huygens will fire its main engine and go into orbit about the planet. Huygens will be delivered to Titan on November 27, 2004. After deceleration in the upper atmosphere, Huygens will deploy a parachute system and its six instruments will make scientific measurements and observations as it descends to the surface. These data then will be transmitted to the Orbiter which, in turn, will relay them to the Earth. The Orbiter will then commence a four year long tour of the Saturnian system. With its complement of 12 instruments, Cassini is capable of making a wide range of in situ and remote sensing observations. There will be repeated close flybys of Titan both to make measurements and for gravity-assisted orbit changes that will enable Cassini to visit other satellites, various parts of the magnetosphere, and obtain occultations of the rings and atmospheres of Saturn and Titan. During the span of the mission, Cassini will also record temporal changes in many of the properties that it can observe. The presentation will emphasize current status and plans for the mission. (The Cassini mission is a joint undertaking by NASA and ESA. This work was carried out at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA.)


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    The Cassini/Huygens Mission to the Saturnian System


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Planetary Exploration ; 1999 ; Unknown


    Publication date :

    1999-01-01


    Type of media :

    Preprint


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





    The Cassini/Huygens Mission to the Saturnian System

    Spilker, L. J. / Lebreton, J. P. / Matson, D. L. | NTRS | 1998


    The Cassini/Huygens Mission to The Saturnian System

    Lebreton, J. P. / Matson, D. | NTRS | 1999


    The Cassini/Huygens Mission to the Saturnian System

    Lebreton, J. P. / Matson, D. | NTRS | 1999


    Cassini mission to explore Saturnian realm

    British Library Online Contents | 1997