The Cassini spacecraft, which successfully made a seven year
journey to Saturn after its October 15th, 1997 launch, has been vigorously
orbiting Saturn since its arrival in June of 2004. The data sent back from the
probe has been an incredible boon for planetary scientists studying the second
largest planet in our area of space, its
rings, and its seemingly limitless number of moons,
large and small.
"This extension is not only exciting for the science
community, but for the world to continue to share in unlocking Saturn's
secrets. New discoveries are the hallmarks of its success, along with the
breathtaking images beamed back to Earth that are simply mesmerizing,"
said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA headquarters
of the highly regarded space probe Cassini and the recently announced extension
of its four year mission to explore Saturn and its solar system-unique
vicinity.
The
extension to the original four-year mission, scheduled to end in July of
this year, was decided after several successful tests and the nearly flawless
operating condition of the craft to date. Three instruments of the twelve
aboard the probe have suffered minor failures, but the amount of data still
able to be gathered by the craft is immense by the standards of space probes.
Cassini has, to date, made 62 orbits of Saturn and 55 flybys of its moons, 43
of which were dedicated to Titan, Saturn's largest and very earth-like moon.
The orbiter most recently made a very
close approach to the moon Enceladus to study a large water-ice geyser,
ejecting material from the moon to a distance of three times its diameter of
500 km.
The two-year mission extension will see the craft perform another 60 orbits of
Saturn, 26 flybys of Titan, seven of Enceladus and one for each moon; Dione,
Rhea and Helene. The recent Enceladus flyby brought the craft within 50 km of
the surface of the moon, and the new mission may bring it even closer, to a
daring 25 km.
Based on past performance of the incredible Cassini, we can probably expect
another two years worth of extraordinary data and images beamed back for analysis
and wonderment. Should the two-year mission see successful completion, NASA
predicts the craft will have enough propellant left for what may become a third
phase, dedicated to missions centered on Titan and Enceladus.