From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Thu Jul 01 2004 - 13:04:23 PDT
----- Original Message -----
From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory<mailto:info_at_jpl.nasa.gov>
To: ljk4_at_msn.com<mailto:ljk4_at_msn.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2004 3:38 AM
Subject: Cassini Spacecraft Arrives At Saturn
MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382
Donald Savage (202) 358-1727
NASA Headquarters, Washington
News Release: 2004-168 June 30, 2004
Cassini Spacecraft Arrives At Saturn
The international Cassini-Huygens mission has successfully entered
"This is a tribute to the team at NASA and our partners at the
Members of the Cassini-Huygens mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion
"We didn't expect anything less and couldn't have asked for anything
Dr. Charles Elachi, JPL director and team leader on the radar
The mission will face another dramatic challenge in December, when the
"This was America's night. This was NASA doing it right," said Dr.
Julie Webster, Cassini-Huygens spacecraft team chief, said, "The
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It is the second largest
Cassini traveled nearly 3.5 billion kilometers (2.2 billion miles) to
The first images are expected to return Thursday morning. Science
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
For the latest images and more information about the Cassini-Huygens
-end-
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: Thu Jul 01 2004 - 13:11:55 PDT
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
orbit around Saturn. At 9:12 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, flight
controllers received confirmation that Cassini had completed the
engine burn needed to place the spacecraft into the correct orbit.
This begins a four-year study of the giant planet, its majestic rings
and 31 known moons.
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, to accomplish this
feat taking place 934 million miles [1.5 billion kilometers] away from
Earth," said Dr. Ed Weiler, associate administrator for space science
at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. "What Cassini-Huygens will
reveal during its tour of Saturn and its many moons, including Titan,
will astonish scientists and the public. Everyone is invited to come
along for the ride and see all this as it is happening. It truly is a
voyage of discovery."
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., broke into cheers and high-fives as
NASA's Deep Space Network confirmed receipt of the signal indicating
successful entry into orbit.
more from the spacecraft and the team," said Robert T. Mitchell,
program manager for the Cassini-Huygens mission at JPL. "This speaks
volumes to the tremendous team that made it all happen."
instrument onboard Cassini, said, "It feels awfully good to be in
orbit around the lord of the rings. This is the result of 22 years of
effort, of commitment, of ingenuity, and that's what exploration is
all about."
spacecraft will release the piggybacked Huygens probe - provided by
the European Space Agency - which will plunge through the hazy
atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
David Southwood, director of scientific programs for the European
Space Agency. "They really gave those of us in Europe a challenge.
We've got six months to go until we land on Titan. We're just praying
that everything will go as well."
spacecraft has been an incredible joy to fly. We stand on the
shoulders of people who had 40 years of experience building and
designing spacecraft."
planet in our solar system, after Jupiter. The planet and ring system
serve as a miniature model of the disc of gas and dust surrounding our
early Sun that eventually formed the planets. Detailed knowledge of
the dynamics of interactions among Saturn's elaborate rings and
numerous moons will provide valuable data for understanding how each
of the solar system's planets evolved.
reach Saturn after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,
Fla., on Oct. 15, 1997. During Cassini's four-year mission, it will
execute 52 close encounters with seven of Saturn's 31 known moons.
measurements gathered Wednesday are the closest ever obtained of
Saturn. Those measurements may reveal details of the gravitational
and magnetic fields that tell scientists about Saturn's interior.
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of
Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled
the Cassini orbiter.
mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini