Cassini Mission Status Report
December 28, 2004
NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully performed a getaway
maneuver on Monday, Dec. 27, to keep it from following the
European Space Agency's Huygens probe into the atmosphere of
Saturn's moon Titan. This maneuver established the required
geometry between the probe and the orbiter for radio
communications during the probe descent on Jan. 14. The probe
has no navigating capability, so the Cassini orbiter had been
placed on a deliberate collision course with Titan to ensure the
accurate delivery of the probe to Titan.
The Huygens probe successfully detached from the Cassini orbiter
on Dec. 24. All systems performed as expected.
The European Space Agency's Huygens probe will be the first human-
made object to explore on-site the unique environment of Titan,
whose chemistry is thought to be very similar to that of early
Earth before life arose.
Next for Cassini is a flyby of Saturn's icy moon Iapetus on Dec.
31. Iapetus is Saturn's two-faced moon -- one side is very
bright, and the other is very dark. One scenario for this
striking difference is that the moon's surface is being
resurfaced by some material spewing from within.
The Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn since June
30, 2004, and has returned stunning pictures of Saturn, its rings
and many moons. Titan has already been the subject of two close
flybys by Cassini. With 43 more flybys planned and the in-situ
measurements made by the probe, it is likely only a matter of
time before Titan's secrets begin to unfold.
More information on the Cassini-Huygens mission is available at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and
assembled the Cassini orbiter. The European Space Agency built
and managed the development of the Huygens probe and is in charge
of the probe operations. The Italian Space Agency provided the
high-gain antenna, much of the radio system and elements of
several of Cassini's science instruments.
Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
2004-297