Section 1.3.3: What's the surface of Titan like?

Mars

NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn completed its initial 4 year mission to study Saturn from orbit in June 2008.  It has taken some amazing images and given astronomers a much better insight into the rings and moons.  It was launched back in 1997, arriving at Saturn in 2004.

Since 2008, the satellite has been carrying out specific extended missions, currently looking at the full seasonal period through to September 2017, including the Saturnian summer solstice occurring in May 2017.

Sunrise on Saturn

Sunrise on Saturn, taken from the Cassini satellite. (credit:NASA)

The highlight of the mission was the descent and landing of the Huygens probe on the surface of Saturn's largest moon Titan in 2005, as explained in the following video.

Last modified: Friday, 19 December 2014, 11:02 AM