Space Mission Support

Abstract

The Cassini/Huygens mission is a dual-craft planetary mission designed to explore in detail the Saturn System, i.e. the planet Saturn itself, its unique rings, many satellites and huge magnetosphere. Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is a prime target of the mission. Not only will Cassini/Huygens allow to investigate each element of the Saturn System, but more importantly their relationship as a system, for example the relationship between the icy satellites and the rings, and the role of the Titan extended N2/H2 torus as a source of material for Saturn’s magnetosphere. The Cassini/Huygens spacecraft comprises the Saturn Orbiter and the Huygens Titan atmospheric Probe. The Saturn Orbiter carries onboard twelve scientific instruments while six instruments have been packed into the Huygens Probe. The nominal 4-year long mission at Saturn will start on 1st July 2004 when the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) manoeuvre takes place. The Huygens Probe has been designed for a 2-21/2 hour descent under parachute through the atmosphere of Titan down to the surface.KeywordsEuropean Space AgencyHigh Gain AntennaProbe MissionHuygens ProbeSaturnian SystemThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.