Title:

The Cassini Mission to Saturn
Richard J. Spehalski
Cassini Program Manager, NASA JPL

Abstract:

In the early morning hours of October 15, 1997 the Cassini spacecraft was launched on a mammoth mission to explore the Saturnian system: its rings, moons, magnetosphere, and last but not least, the planet itself. The spacecraft was actually launched toward the inner solar system and will perform a series of spectacular "gravity assist" flybys, two of Venus, one of Earth and one of Jupiter, to give it a final trajectory toward Saturn. After a seven year "cruise" to its destination, Cassini will conduct a four-year exploration of Saturn and its moons. The spacecraft is projected to return literally hundreds of thousands of photos and some 2 trillion bits of scientific data. One of the mission highlights will be the delivery of a parachute-assisted probe, the Huygens Probe, to the atmosphere and surface of Saturn's moon Titan. The probe should end the persisting debate over the possible existence of oceans on Titan's surface.

The tortuous journey to Saturn and the planned four-year tour of the planet and its moons will be presented with brilliant pictorial representations. The Cassini spacecraft, Huygens Probe, the Titan IVB-Centaur launch system and a selection of the important scientific instruments will be described. Beyond the technical challenges posed by the Cassini Mission, there is a host of organizational and political challenges that deserve discussion. For one, the program is a complicated joint venture of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Cassini also carries a radioisotope power source on board. There was significant popular resistance to the launch due to the perceived risk of a nuclear accident. The process of gaining final approval will be discussed. Finally, the current status of the mission and near-term activities will be reviewed.