Cassini
Liftoff
October 15, 1997
Mission Ended
September 15, 2017
Mission Info
Cassini was a sophisticated robotic spacecraft with a mission to orbit and explore Saturn in detail. The voyage to Saturn included flybys of Venus , Earth, and Jupiter. It was also able to study the asteroid 2685. Cassini carried with it a probe called Huygens, which parachuted to the surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, in January 2005.
Cassini was active in space for nearly 20 years, with 13 years spent orbiting Saturn and studying the planet and its system.
Key Facts
IVB/Centaur
cape Canaveral, fl
Revealed Titan to have rain, rivers, lakes, and seas; it is shrouded in a thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere that might be similar to what Earth's was like long ago
Observed the formation and development of Saturn's great northern storm of 2010-2011, which eventually encircled the entire planet for months
Discovered a giant hurricane-like vortex at both of the planet's poles
ESA’s Huygens probe parachuted to Titan, making the first landing on a moon in the outer solar system
Mission Images
