CASSINI-HUYGENS

A complex interplanetary probe

At 6.7 metres (22 feet) tall and four metres (13 feet) wide and with a weight of 5,712 kilograms, Cassini is the largest and most complex unmanned interplanetary spacecraft ever launched. Its main objective was to use 12 onboard scientific instruments to conduct a fouryear long study of Saturn’s atmosphere, surface details, the behaviour of its rings, magnetic environment and the composition of its moons, as well as to carry the Huygens lander to Saturn’s moon Titan.

It began orbiting Saturn on 1 July 2004 and completed its prime objectives on 30 June 2008. Early in 2012, it studied the moons of Jarnsaxa and Mundilfari and passed Enceladus. Cassini detected several new moons and revealed that Enceladus sprays out jets of ice crystals that feed into the rings of Saturn. On Saturn, lightning storms and hurricanes were discovered, and on Titan they have found mountains, clouds, snow and liquid methane rivers and lakes under its smoggy atmosphere, much like the conditions on Earth before life evolved here. To end the mission, NASA crashed Cassini into Saturn in 2017.

“Cassini detected several new moons and revealed that Enceladus sprays out jets of ice crystals”