While were all a little bit nervous, were also very excited, Mitchell said. Tomorrows Saturn Orbit Insertion, or SOI for short, ranks as a rather hair-graying event. There are no problems. We have no indication of any problem with the spacecraft that would have any adverse impact on SOI.
NASAs nuclear-powered Cassini is pulling up to Saturn following nearly 7 years of cruising through interplanetary space. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.
This whole mission has been an incredibly smooth one to fly, said Julie Webster, manager of the spacecraft operations team at JPL. Now prepared to swing into Saturn orbit, signals sent from Cassini take over one hour, twenty-three minutes to reach Earth, she said.
Ringside events
Prior to engine ignition, Cassini will turn so its large, high-gain antenna can shield the craft from particles as it crosses Saturn's ring plane.
Shortly after the engine burn ends, the spacecraft is ready to collect science data for about 75 minutes, Mitchell said, for later broadcast back to Earth, along with imagery, engineering data, as well as fields and particles information.
Well have a pretty hefty data set right at the start of Cassinis multi-year mission at Saturn, Mitchell noted. While I cant tell you its going to be a slam dunk, there really is not any single thing I could point to [as a problem]. Its just looking very solid. Its looking very good.
Jeremy Jones, chief navigator for the Cassini-Huygens mission at JPL, said the spacecraft is working great, ready to carry out 77 orbits of Saturn during its primary mission.
During the spacecrafts four-year tour-of-duty at Saturn, it will study the planet, its rings and a number of the globes family of 31 known moons. More than 250 scientists worldwide will study the data collected.
Phoebe: a real darling
The spacecraft recently flew past Saturn's cratered moon Phoebe, where it captured spectacular images as well as data on its mass and composition. Water ice exposure on the moons surface, and patches of carbon dioxide, were spotted by Cassini instruments.
Phoebe is a real darling, said Dennis Matson, Cassini project scientist. Phoebe will be keeping us involved for some time to come, he said.
Matson said that the Phoebe flyby was a first introduction to the icy satellites circling Saturn. It has raised the threshold of expectation to a much higher level than we had imagined, he told reporters.
Overall, the Cassini spacecraft is about to enter a delicious smorgasbord of scientific opportunities at Saturn, Matson added.
Trip back in time
Along with radar and other science gear carried by the spacecraft, the European Space Agencys (ESA) Huygens probe is to be ejected by Cassini to plunge into the murky, nitrogen and methane-spiked atmosphere of the planet's giant moon, Titan.
Huygens is to be released by Cassini December 24, then dive toward Titans surface three weeks later in mid-January 2005. Following a heated entry, a set of three parachutes is to slow down the camera and science instrument-laden lander for touchdown on Titan.
Who knows what well see, said Jean-Pierre Lebreton, ESA's Huygens mission manager and project scientist. As the largest moon circling Saturn, its probably the most exotic object in the solar system, he said.
Surprises are likely in the offing, Lebreton predicted. Going to Titan now is like going back to the Earth four billion years ago. A big trip back in time.
Many treats in store
Lebreton said the Huygens lander may find itself resting on solid surface or perhaps floating on an ocean. So far, Cassini images of Titan have not shown evidence of any ocean.
I jut hope, or maybe dream, that were really going to see oceans on Titan, Lebreton added.
Cassini is slated to have 45 encounters with Titan, slipping by the moon as close as 590 miles (950 kilometers) distance, JPLs Jones said. The spacecrafts first Titan encounter takes place in October of this year.
Making use of imaging hardware, and other instruments, including a cloud-cutting radar unit toted by Cassini, the true nature of Titan is sure to be revealed.
You have many treats in store from Titan, Matson concluded.
advertisement
