What Was The Cassini Mission?
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Cassini was a joint NASA, ESA, and Italian space agency spacecraft that orbited Saturn for 13 years (2004-2017). It carried the Huygens probe that landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, the most distant landing ever in the solar system. Cassini revolutionized our understanding of Saturn, its rings, and its moons.
Cassini was one of the most ambitious planetary exploration missions ever attempted. The spacecraft spent 13 years orbiting Saturn, sending back hundreds of thousands of images and transforming our understanding of the ringed planet. Cassini also delivered the Huygens probe to Titan in 2005 (the most distant landing in the solar system) and ended its mission with a dramatic plunge into Saturn's atmosphere in 2017.
Who built and launched Cassini?
NASA, ESA, and the Italian Space Agency. According to NASA, Cassini was one of the most ambitious efforts ever mounted in planetary exploration. A joint endeavor of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), and the Italian space agency (ASI), Cassini was a sophisticated robotic spacecraft sent to study Saturn and its system of rings and moons in unprecedented detail. The spacecraft launched on October 15, 1997 and took nearly seven years to reach Saturn, using gravitational assists from Venus, Earth, and Jupiter.
When did it arrive at Saturn?
July 1, 2004. Cassini reached Saturn after a 7-year journey and entered orbit on July 1, 2004, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. Six months later, on January 14, 2005, the Huygens probe (built by ESA) separated and descended through Titan's thick atmosphere, parachuting to the surface. Huygens returned spectacular images and other science data during its 2.5-hour descent. The landing on Titan remains the most distant spacecraft landing in the solar system. Cassini continued orbiting Saturn for another 12 years.
What did it discover?
Many surprises. Cassini revealed that Enceladus, one of Saturn's small moons, has geysers shooting water ice into space from a subsurface ocean. The spacecraft confirmed that Titan has surface lakes of liquid methane and ethane. It mapped the unusual hexagonal jet stream around Saturn's north pole and discovered a giant hurricane-like vortex at both poles. Cassini also revealed previously unknown details of Saturn's rings, including small moons within them and structures created by gravitational interactions.
How did it end?
The Grand Finale plunge. In late 2016, Cassini began a daring set of orbits called the Grand Finale, including 22 dives between Saturn's atmosphere and innermost ring. These risky passes provided unprecedented close-up data. On September 15, 2017, after the spacecraft was running low on fuel and to prevent contamination of potentially habitable moons, NASA deliberately plunged Cassini into Saturn's atmosphere where it burned up. The mission ended with a final 83-second transmission as the spacecraft disintegrated.
Cassini was a joint NASA, ESA, and Italian Space Agency spacecraft that orbited Saturn for 13 years (2004-2017). It carried the Huygens probe that landed on Titan in 2005, the most distant landing ever in the solar system. Cassini revolutionized our understanding of Saturn, discovering Enceladus's geysers and subsurface ocean, mapping Titan's methane lakes, and revealing the planet's hexagonal jet stream. The mission ended dramatically in the Grand Finale, with Cassini plunging into Saturn on September 15, 2017.
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