Cassini-Huygens
Mission to Saturn and Titan

Cassini-Huygens Quick Facts

Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan: (Huygens is pronounced "HOY-ginz") This spacecraft is on its way to Saturn.

This is a full-sized model of the Cassini Spacecraft. It consists of the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe.

The Cassini orbiter will orbit Saturn, and the Huygens probe will land on Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

During the JPL Open House, this full-sized Cassini model was on display in High Bay 2 - the largest clean room at JPL! View more Photos of Cassini

This is a scaled-model of the Cassini spacecraft on display in the von Kármán Visitors' Center.

The Cassini orbiter is named after Italian astronomer Jean Dominique Cassini. He observed Saturn and noticed there was a space or gap between the rings of Saturn. This 4,700 kilometer gap between the two main rings is called the Cassini Division.

This is a scaled-model of the Huygens probe on display in High Bay 2. It is named after Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. He observed Saturn and discovered its largest moon, Titan.

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CASSINI-HUYGENS: QUICK FACTS

Mission: to get a better understanding of Saturn, its rings, its magnetosphere (a vast bubble of charged particles surrounding the planet), its principal moon (Titan), and its other moons or "icy satellites." Read about the Cassini-Huygens Mission and about the Huygens Mission to Titan.

Launch: October 15, 1997, from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, aboard the Titan IV-B/Centaur launch vehicle. Read about the launch or view photos of the launch.

Encounter with Saturn: July 1, 2004, Cassini will encounter Saturn after traveling 2 billion miles for over 6 years. View present position, Cassini Interplanetary Trafectory, Saturn Arrival and Initial Orbit, and Cassini - Saturn Orbital Sample Tour.

Saturn: Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest planet in our solar system. Only Jupiter is larger. View photos of Saturn.

Saturn's Rings: Saturn is probably best known for its amazing rings. It has thousands of rings which are made up of trillions of particles and icebergs. View photos of Saturn's Rings.

Saturn's Moons: Saturn has 18 known moons, and its largest moon is Titan. View images of Titan, Saturn's Large Moons, and Saturn's Small Moons.

Jupiter Millennium Flyby: In December, 2000, both the Cassini and Galileo spacecrafts observed Jupiter during the Jupiter Millennium Flyby. It is unusual to have two spacecrafts on separate missions observing the same planet (other than the Earth), at the same time, from a close range. View photos of the Jupiter Flyby.

Mission Home Page: Cassini-Huygens: Mission to Saturn and Titan

JPL's Cassini for Kids: Kids' Page

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