Tag: Saturn

  • Cassini transmits home first views of Enceladus’ north pole

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    NASA’s Cassini spacecraft zoomed by Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus on Oct. 14, 2015, capturing this stunning image of the moon’s north pole. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 4,000 miles (6,000 kilometers) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 9 degrees. Image scale is 115 feet (35 meters) per…

  • NASA probe makes last visit to Saturn’s moon Dione

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    The Cassini spacecraft snapped this view of Dione backdropped by Saturn on Monday. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Scientists are getting a final look at Saturn’s icy moon Dione for decades to come with fresh imagery streaming down this week from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which made its last close flyby of the Texas-sized satellite Monday. The…

  • Saturn moon’s ice canyons viewed by Cassini

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    Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI Saturn’s moon Dione received a fleeting visitor this week, when NASA’s Cassini spacecraft whizzed by to image bizarre streaks thought to be canyons with ice walls up to 100 stories tall. The raw images from Cassini’s encounter are flowing back to Earth, and they reveal wispy bands of bright material stretching hundreds of…

  • Cassini beams back last views of Saturn’s moon Hyperion

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    Cassini’s narrow-angle camera captured this view of Hyperion on May 31 at a range of 37,000 miles. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI NASA’s Cassini spacecraft spiraling around Saturn zipped past the giant planet’s oddball moon Hyperion for the last time Sunday, catching a final glimpse of the bizarre body’s porous sponge-like surface. Cassini flew about 21,000 miles (34,000…

  • 10 years since we landed on Titan

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    Ten years ago today, on 14 January 2005, a compact, flattened cylinder called Huygens, chock-full of sensors, cameras and scientific experiments, went hurtling through the orange skies of the mysterious moon Titan. An artist’s impression of Huygens on the surface of Titan. Image: ESA/C Carreau. The surface of Titan was still largely unknown at the…

  • MESSENGER and Cassini’s landmark discoveries in 2014

    MESSENGER and Cassini’s landmark discoveries in 2014

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    For NASA, 2014 marked the 10th anniversary of MESSENGER in space and the tenth anniversary of Cassini at Saturn. Throughout the year, the two probes returned valuable scientific data to Earth while scientists revealed the fruits of the probes’ labors through several announcements of groundbreaking discoveries at the two planets, including new information about solar…

  • Crescent Saturn and Titan seen by Cassini

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    Saturn and Titan appear as crescents in this image from Cassini. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute NASA’s Cassini spacecraft — in its 11th year orbiting Saturn — has spotted the gas giant and its haze-covered moon Titan suspended in the blackness of space as brilliant crescents. Encircled by its famous rings faintly visible in this image,…

  • NASA and ESA’s Cassini spacecraft marks 10 years at Saturn

    NASA and ESA’s Cassini spacecraft marks 10 years at Saturn

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    Ten years ago today (Monday, June 30), NASA made history as the Cassini spacecraft became the first human-made satellite of Saturn – beginning an orbital tenure that has altered planetary scientists’ thoughts on the “habitable zone” and life-sustaining areas of the solar system. Two decades of development: What would ultimately become the Cassini-Huygens mission dates…

  • YIR (Part II) – Lunar and Saturnian exploration captures public’s attention

    YIR (Part II) – Lunar and Saturnian exploration captures public’s attention

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    Capturing and holding the attention of the general public for space exploration purposes is often a difficult thing to achieve. But 2013 saw not only NASA but also the China National Space Administration do just that through a series of new and continuing voyages to the Moon and Saturn. YIR Part II: Lunar exploration –…

  • SLS capability touted for Europa Lander capability, Enceladus sample return

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    As the Space Launch System (SLS) teams head into their first full year since the vehicle was finally announced, fascinating – albeit well into the future – Exploration Systems Development (ESD) Design Reference Mission (DRM) options for deep space have been outlined in the SLS Concept Of Operations (Con Ops), options which include ambitious missions…