Saturn: Cassini’s Excellent
Adventure

Saturn
• About nine times Earth’s diameter
• 95 times as massive as Earth
• 1.4 billion kilometers (900 million miles) from Sun
• Orbits Sun in 29.5 years
• Largest moon is Titan (5100 km), 7 others
300-1500 km, 52 smaller moons

Saturn as Seen from Earth

First Visit to Saturn: Pioneer 11,
1979

Pioneer 11 View of Saturn’s Rings

Early Voyager Photograph

Not as Exciting as Jupiter

Detail of
Saturn’s
Rings

Saturn Seen From Beyond

Mimas

Enceladus

Dione

Titan

Crescent
Titan

Iapetus

Cassini

This is Rocket Science
• Launch: October 15, 1997
• Venus Flyby April 26, 1998
• Venus Flyby June 24, 1999
• Earth Flyby August 18, 1999
• Jupiter Flyby December 30, 2000
• Saturn Orbit Insertion July 1, 2004
• Huygens Probe Separation Dec. 24, 2004
• Titan Landing January 14, 2005

Saturn From Cassini

Crescent Saturn

Behind Saturn

Behind Saturn

Rings and Shadow

Ripply Rings

Making Waves

Saturn’s South Pole

Storms in Saturn’s Far North

The
North
Polar
Hexagon

“Saucer” Moons

Hyperion

Phoebe

Iapetus By Saturn-Shine

Iapetus Ridge

Enceladus

Enceladus

Enceladus up close and
Personal

Dione and Rhea

Saturn, Titan, Enceladus

Dione and
Saturn’s
Rings

Titan’s Haze

Surface of Titan

Aerial
View of
Titan

Aerial View of Titan

Surface of
Titan

Lakes on Titan

Titan’s Largest Sea

Boris Smeds: The Hero of
Huygens