Cassini-Huygens: Mission to Saturn

The Cassini-Huygens mission was launched Oct. 15, 1997, on a journey covering 3.5 billion kilometers (2.2 billion miles). The size of a schoolbus, the combined probe is the most highly instrumented and scientifically capable planetary spacecraft ever flown. It has 12 instruments on the Cassini orbiter and six more on the Huygens probe. The joint mission represents the best technical efforts of 260 scientists from the United States and 17 European nations.

After an indirect journey lasting almost seven years, Cassini-Huygens entered orbit around Saturn at 10:30 p.m. EDT June 30, 2004. Six months later, on Christmas Day 2004, the Huygens lander separated from the Cassini orbital probe, and began a three week descent to the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

Key aspects of the mission, it's history, successes, and findings are highlighted here.

• Pictures from Titan
  
  
• Cassini-Huygens mission history
  
  
• Cassini probe diagram
  
  
• Huygens probe diagram
  
  
• Pictures of Saturn
  
  
• Fun facts about Saturn
  
  
• Additional resources