Freiberger 1

1David Freiberger
M. Barr
English 101 7:30 Colville
January 19, 2005

The Cassini-Huygens Mission

The object speeds through the far reaches of our solar system, traveling many miles each

second. No known life forms observe its trajectory as it swings past each planet near its path to

Saturn. The advanced sensors on board the machine tell it that it is almost in position, ready to

launch another of humankind’s wonders, the first moon probe. Scientists on the ground tap

quietly into massive computers, programming and calculating the final stages of the craft, as it

navigates space over two billion miles away. This object is the Cassini-Huygens, an orbiter-

probe designed to tell us more about the gaseous giant Saturn and its complex system of rings

and moons. And tell us more it has! The mission is already beginning to show its importance to

the advancement of our knowledge about how the universe works.

Beginning its journey seven years ago on October 15, 1997, the craft has traveled by

Venus, Jupiter and Earth on its way to Saturn. Flying around these three planets gave the craft

enough extra speed to send it to Saturn, as the powerful rocket Titan IVB/Centaur could not

carry enough fuel to boost the heavy orbiter into outer space. Now, years later, scientists are

being rewarded for their patience with many new details expanding our knowledge of space.

The Cassini-Huygens craft is made up of two parts. Cassini is the large orbiter loaded

with transmitters, receivers, and multiple specialized sensors. Huygens is the name for the Titan

moon probe that until just a while ago was attached to Cassini. Now Huygens is resting on the

final spot of its destination, the rocky surface of the moon Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.
 Titan is the only known non-planetary sphere that has an atmosphere and thus the

possibility for life. The first sign of otherworldly existence appeared on January 14, 2005 when

the cone shaped probe penetrated the murky atmosphere and touched down on the rocky surface

of Titan. During the descent and after landing, the probe transmitted over three hours of never-

before seen pictures and data. Meanwhile, the Cassini orbiter continued on its journey to

eventual orbit with Saturn. Back at earth, scientists are analyzing months worth of exciting new

imagery and data, and celebrating the success of the Huygens landing and the wealth of data that

is being returned by the mission.

The Cassini mission goals are numerous and significant, objectives that will bring

answers to scientists about questions long speculated on, and raise many new puzzles for future

missions to resolve. The Saturnian system is complex and detailed, with 33 moons (three of

which were discovered during this mission) ranging in size from Pan, which is 12 miles in

diameter, to Titan’s 3200 miles. Scientists will only begin to find answers to questions such as

“where do the colors in the rings come from?” and “what is the source of Titan’s abundant

supply of methane?” with this mission.

Although the mission in general would not be called an objective, overcoming the

immense obstacles in simply getting the spacecraft to Saturn was an achievement in its own

right. The spacecraft itself weighed in at over twelve thousand pounds before the Huygens probe

was released, and as with any mechanical or electronic device so complex, many things could

have and still may go wrong. Orbiter Cassini is packed with twelve instruments, Huygens with

another six. Scientist are hoping that for the next four years or more Cassini will continue to
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bring new insights to them and pave the way for future space missions with more advanced

equipment to study the other realms in space.

Already, the Cassini-Huygens mission has begun to answer questions that scientists had

about Titan’s atmospheric composition and the surface of the moon, along with hundreds of new

high resolution photographs of scenes never seen by human eye before. New information has

revealed the awesome majesty of Titan, with icy channels cut in the surface by liquids such as

ethane or methane, and strange rocks littering the ground. On the surface of Saturn things are

looking a bit strange as well, with conflicting bits of information from the Cassini orbiter and the

previous Voyager orbiters that flew by Saturn in the 1980s. Oddities such as erratic lightning

bolts and moons that aren’t obeying orbital dynamics as currently understood have caused many

scientists to rethink previous assumptions.

Although the purpose of space exploration has been debated ever since Sputnik was

rocketed into orbit by the Soviets in 1957, there have been valid reasons for making the effort.

One is the tremendous technological advances that resulted from the space program. Another is

the common purpose that exploration of space has brought to scientists worldwide. For example,

the Saturn mission was a combination of the European Space Agency’s designed and constructed

Huygens probe and NASA’s Cassini orbiter.

NASA mentions that perhaps the best reason for studying space is humanity’s propensity

to explore and expand. Just as Columbus crossed the ocean, and pioneers settled the West,

humans will always be looking for a new frontier. Eventually planet Earth will run out of

resources and room for the ever growing human population, and there is only one place humans

can go – space.
 The mission to Titan and the Saturnian system is in many respects just another chapter in

our quest for knowledge and resources. It is commonly believed that with knowledge, humans

have power, and that with power and enough resources they may survive the ecological damage

they have brought to Planet Earth. Humans however can’t survive in an environment as harsh as

space, but would require another place more like the Earth where they might find refuge. This is

another reason that exploration of possible places to inhabit, such as Titan, is thought to be a

good thing.

Already the mission to Titan has given scientists much information to ponder. In the

months and years ahead scientists will continue to receive and interpret data from the orbiter

which is scheduled to make at least 75 orbits around Saturn, and multiple flybys of Titan and the

other moons. If all continues to go as well as it has been, the saga of the Cassini mission will

continue for many years, and probably finish with an intentional fall into Saturn. Perhaps the

very end of the mission will be the climax as Cassini sends a final dramatic burst of information

about the rings and the big mysterious planet as it crashes through them.
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Works Cited

Battersby, Stephen. “Cassini-Huygens: FAQ” New Scientist. 13 Dec. 2004:

20 Jan. 2005. <http://www.newscientist.com/popuparticle.ns?id=in46>.

Pickrell, John. “Cassini-Huygens: Instant Expert” New Scientist. 13 Dec. 2004:

20 Jan. 2005. <http://www.newscientist.com/popuparticle.ns?id=in32>.

“Cassini-Huygens - The mission” European Space Agency. 25 June 2004.

19 Jan. 2005. <http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-

Huygens/SEMMD2HHZTD_2.html>.

“Cassini-Huygens - Factsheet.” Media Centre Space Science. 27 Jan. 2005 European Space

Agency.

27 Jan. 2005 <http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM77EUZJND_0_spk.html>.