Mission to Saturn by MagikUnicorn

Bryce • Space • posted on Feb 20, 2017

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Description

MISSION TO SATURN Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn. It is a Flagship-class NASA–ESA–ASI robotic spacecraft. Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit, and its mission is ongoing as of 2016. It has studied the planet and its many natural satellites since arriving there in 2004. Development started in the 1980s. Its design includes a Saturn orbiter (Cassini) and a lander (Huygens) for the moon Titan. The two spacecraft are named after astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens. The spacecraft launched on October 15, 1997 aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur and entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004, after an interplanetary voyage that included flybys of Earth, Venus, and Jupiter. On December 25, 2004, Huygens separated from the orbiter and landed on Saturn's moon Titan on January 14, 2005. It successfully returned data to Earth, using the orbiter as a relay. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System. Cassini continued to study the Saturn system in the following years, and continues to operate as of January 2017. However, due to the spacecraft's dwindling fuel resources for further orbital corrections, it is currently planned to be destroyed by diving into the planet's atmosphere in September 2017. This method of disposal was chosen to avoid potential biological contamination of Saturn's moons. On November 30, 2016, Cassini entered the final phase of the project. Cassini will dive through the outer ring of Saturn 20 times, once every seven days. The spacecraft will enter areas that have been untouched up until this point, getting the closest look ever at Saturn's outer rings. The first pass of the rings took place on December 4, 2016. 20 years ago... Launch of Cassini–Huygens 1997 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvWjbxQhHKE