From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cassini?Huygens
|
|
Mission type
| Cassini
:
Saturn
orbiter
Huygens
:
Titan
lander
|
---|
Operator
| Cassini
:
NASA
/
JPL
Huygens
:
ESA
/
ASI
|
---|
COSPAR ID
| 1997-061A
|
---|
SATCAT
no.
| 25008
|
---|
Website
|
|
---|
Mission duration
|
- Overall
:
-
19 years, 335 days
-
13 years, 76 days at Saturn
- En route
:
- Prime mission
:
- Extended missions
:
-
Equinox: 2 years, 62 days
-
Solstice: 6 years, 205 days
-
Finale: 4 months, 24 days
|
---|
|
|
|
Manufacturer
| Cassini
:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Huygens
:
Thales Alenia Space
|
---|
Launch mass
| 5,712 kg (12,593 lb)
[1]
[2]
|
---|
Dry mass
| 2,523 kg (5,562 lb)
[1]
|
---|
Power
| ~885 watts (BOL)
[1]
~670 watts (2010)
[3]
~663 watts (EOM/2017)
[1]
|
---|
|
|
|
Launch date
| October 15, 1997, 08:43:00
(
1997-10-15UTC08:43
)
UTC
|
---|
Rocket
| Titan IV(401)B
B-33
|
---|
Launch site
| Cape Canaveral
SLC-40
|
---|
|
|
|
Disposal
| Controlled entry into Saturn
|
---|
Last contact
| September 15, 2017
- 11:55:39 UTC X-band telemetry
- 11:55:46 UTC S-band radio science
[4]
|
---|
|
|
|
Reference system
| Kronocentric
|
---|
|
|
|
Closest approach
| April 26, 1998
|
---|
Distance
| 283 km (176 mi)
|
---|
|
Closest approach
| June 24, 1999
|
---|
Distance
| 623 km (387 mi)
|
---|
|
Closest approach
| August 18, 1999, 03:28 UTC
|
---|
Distance
| 1,171 km (728 mi)
|
---|
|
Closest approach
| January 23, 2000
|
---|
Distance
| 1,600,000 km (990,000 mi)
|
---|
|
Closest approach
| December 30, 2000
|
---|
Distance
| 9,852,924 km (6,122,323 mi)
|
---|
|
Orbital insertion
| July 1, 2004, 02:48 UTC
|
---|
|
Spacecraft component
| Huygens
|
---|
Landing date
| January 14, 2005
|
---|
|
|
Cassini?Huygens
was a
space mission
, sent to
Saturn
, the sixth
planet
from the
Sun
to study its rings, and its
moons
.
The mission was made by
NASA
, the
European Space Agency
(ESA), and
Italian Space Agency
(ASI). The spacecraft had two main parts: the
Cassini orbiter
and the
Huygens probe
. It was launched on October 15, 1997 and entered into
orbit
around Saturn on July 1, 2004. It was the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn and the fourth to visit Saturn (the others were
flybys
and did not enter orbit). The mission ended September 2017.
The orbiter was named after the Italian-French
astronomer
Giovanni Domenico Cassini
, who discovered some moons of Saturn. Most of the orbiter was designed and built by NASA, although ASI built and programmed some parts that talked to the Huygens probe. The spacecraft spent 13 years in orbit, sending back data. It visited many parts of the Saturn system until it was short of fuel. The Cassini?Huygens ended with a controlled crash into
Saturn
's atmosphere on September 15, 2017.
[5]
ESA (European Space Agency) made the
Huygens probe
, named after the
Dutch
astronomer,
mathematician
, and
physicist
Christiaan Huygens
who discovered Titan. On December 25 2004, the Huygens probe left the orbiter. A couple weeks later, the probe parachuted onto Saturn's largest moon
Titan
. Astronomers have wondered what the surface of Titan was like, since it was hidden under thick clouds. It is the only moon in our solar system with a thick atmosphere. The probe descended and sent pictures and other data back for scientists to study. After 90 minutes on the moon, the spacecraft stopped working, as expected. It is the farthest place we have ever landed a spacecraft. The pictures sent while parachuting showed rivers, probably of liquid
methane
. The surface is much too cold for water.
- ↑
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
"Cassini?Huygens: Quick Facts"
. NASA
. Retrieved
August 20,
2011
.
- ↑
Krebs, Gunter Dirk.
"Cassini / Huygens"
.
Gunter's Space Page
. Retrieved
June 15,
2016
.
- ↑
Barber, Todd J. (August 23, 2010).
"Insider's Cassini: Power, Propulsion, and Andrew Ging"
. NASA. Archived from
the original
on April 2, 2012
. Retrieved
August 20,
2011
.
- ↑
"Cassini Post-End of Mission News Conference" (Interview). Pasadena, CA: NASA Television. September 15, 2017.
- ↑
"The Grand Finale Toolkit"
. NASA
. Retrieved
April 15,
2017
.
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Flybys
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Orbiters
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Atmospheric probes
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En route
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Planned missions
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Proposed missions
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Cancelled / Concepts
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Related topics
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