Saturn: Cassinis Excellent Adventure

1
Saturn Cassinis Excellent Adventure
2
Saturn

• About nine times Earths diameter
• 95 times as massive as Earth
• 1.4 billion kilometers (900 million miles) from
  Sun
• Orbits Sun in 29.5 years
• Largest moon is Titan (5100 km), 7 others
  300-1500 km, 52 smaller moons

3
Saturn as Seen from Earth
4
First Visit to Saturn Pioneer 11, 1979
5
Pioneer 11 View of Saturns Rings
6
Early Voyager Photograph
7
Not as Exciting as Jupiter
8
Detail of Saturns Rings
9
Saturn Seen From Beyond
10
Mimas
11
Enceladus
12
Dione
13
Titan
14
Crescent Titan
15
Iapetus
16
Cassini
17
This is Rocket Science

• Launch October 15, 1997
• Venus Flyby April 26, 1998
• Venus Flyby June 24, 1999
• Earth Flyby August 18, 1999
• Jupiter Flyby December 30, 2000
• Saturn Orbit Insertion July 1, 2004
• Huygens Probe Separation Dec. 24, 2004
• Titan Landing January 14, 2005

18
Saturn From Cassini
19
Crescent Saturn
20
Behind Saturn
21
Behind Saturn
You Are Here
22
Rings and Shadow
23
Ripply Rings
24
Making Waves
25
Saturns South Pole
26
Storms in Saturns Far North
27
The North Polar Hexagon
28
Saucer Moons
29
Hyperion
30
Phoebe
31
Iapetus By Saturn-Shine
32
Iapetus Ridge
33
Enceladus
34
Enceladus
35
Enceladus up close and Personal
36
Dione and Rhea
37
Saturn, Titan, Enceladus
38
Dione and Saturns Rings
39
Titans Haze
40
Surface of Titan
41
Aerial View of Titan
42
Aerial View of Titan
43
Surface of Titan
44
Lakes on Titan
45
Titans Largest Sea
46
Boris Smeds The Hero of Huygens