Cassini–Huygens (Cassini: Saturn orbiter, Huygens: Titan lander)

The night-time launch of Cassini on a Titan IVB/Centaur on 15th October 1997.

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To get enough speed to reach Titan, Cassini would have to use other planets as sling-shots to propel her out into the far reaches of our solar system. Scientists explain how this is done in this fascinating BBC clip.

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On June 30, 2004 (PDT), as mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory held their collective breath, the international Cassini-Huygens mission successfully arrived in orbit around Saturn. NASA's Cassini spacecraft delivered the European Space Agency's Huygens probe to Titan in early 2005. Cassini completed its four-year primary mission in 2008 and went on to perform dozens more flybys of Titan, Enceladus and Saturn's other icy moons through its 10th anniversary in 2014. The mission may continue through 2017.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft will get up close and personal with the planet's outmost F rings during a series of 20 orbits between Nov. 30, 2016 and April 22, 2017. It will give the probe unprecedented views of the moons that orbit near the edge of the rings.

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The final chapter in a remarkable mission of exploration and discovery, Cassini's Grand Finale is in many ways like a brand new mission. Twenty-two times, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will dive through the unexplored space between Saturn and its rings. What we learn from these ultra-close passes over the planet could be some of the most exciting revelations ever returned by the long-lived spacecraft. This animated video tells the story of Cassini's final, daring assignment and looks back at what the mission has accomplished.

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Right now the Cassini spacecraft is flying between the rings of Saturn and the planet itself, a daring trajectory chosen to conclude a unique exploration mission.

To find out what that orbit means, and to look back at some of Cassini-Huygens finest moments, we met up with key members of the science team in the UK for this edition of Space.

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Saturn’s giant, hazy moon Titan has been essential to NASA’s Cassini mission during its 13 thrilling years of exploration there. Cassini and the European Huygens probe have revealed a fascinating world of lakes and seas, great swaths of dunes, and a complex atmosphere with weather – with intriguing similarities to Earth. Titan has also been an engine for the mission, providing gravity assists that propelled the spacecraft on its adventures around the ringed planet.

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Cassini is in the process of executing 22 daring ‘Grand Finale’ dives in the 1,200-mile gap between Saturn and its innermost ring, concluding with an epic final plunge into the gas giant’s upper atmosphere.

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Team members reflect on what has made the NASA/ESA Cassini mission such an epic journey -- the extraordinary spacecraft, tremendous science and historic international collaboration. This video uses a combination of animation and actual imagery returned over the course of the mission.

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Bill Nye celebrates the total solar eclipse of 2017 at Homestead National Monument as part of our partnership with the U.S. National Parks and Picardo has a very special goodbye song for the Cassini Mission.

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Cassini-Huygens was launched on 15 October 1997 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.After nearly 13 years in orbit around Saturn, the international Cassini-Huygens mission is going through its final chapter: NASA's Cassini spacecraft is performing a series of daring dives between the planet and its rings, leading to a dramatic final plunge into Saturn's atmosphere on 15 September.

On 14 January 2005, ESA's Huygens probe, which hitched a ride to the Saturn system attached to Cassini during the seven-year voyage, entered the history books by descending to the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. This was humanity's first successful attempt to land a probe on another world in the outer Solar System.

Huygens made a 21-day solo cruise toward the haze-shrouded moon. Plunging into Titan's atmosphere, the probe touched down safely on Titan's frozen surface.

Huygens provided a stream of data representing a unique treasure trove of in situ measurements from the planet-sized satellite which scientists are still mining today. This video recalls Huygens 'one of a kind' journey.

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The Cassini mission’s epic 13-year exploration of Saturn is coming to a close. On Sept. 15, the spacecraft will make a planned plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn in order to protect pristine icy moons that warrant future exploration. As the mission nears its end, team members reflect on this historic, international collaboration. The video uses a combination of animation and actual imagery returned over the course of the mission.

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Following over a decade of ground-breaking discoveries, Cassini is now approaching its mission end.

With little fuel left to correct the NASA's spacecraft trajectory, it has been decided to end the mission by plunging it into Saturn’s atmosphere on 15 September 2017. In the process, Cassini will burn up, satisfying planetary protection requirements to avoid possible contamination of any moons of Saturn that could have conditions suitable for life. These include Saturn’s largest moon Titan and Enceladus, which has a liquid ocean under its icy crust.

The grand finale is not only a spectacular way to complete this extraordinary mission, but will also return a bounty of unique scientific data that was not possible to collect during the previous phases of the mission. Cassini has never ventured into the area between Saturn and its rings before, so the new set of orbits is almost like a whole new mission.

These close orbits will provide the highest resolution observations ever achieved of the inner rings and the planet's clouds. The orbits will also give the chance to examine in situ the material in the rings and plasma environment of Saturn. It will also probe the planet's magnetic field at close distances.

This video explains Cassini 's final operations, what the Cassini-Huygens mission has taught us about Saturn, the potential for life on its moons and the promise of more science to come.

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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will plunge into Saturn on September 15, incinerating itself after 20 years in space.

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A three billion dollar spacecraft is hurtling towards destruction-- but it's no accident.

About Mission Saturn:
NASA’s biggest spacecraft plunges into Saturn in the final act of a 20-year mission showcasing the planet like never before.

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Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker talks about some of the last ever pictures taken by the NASA-ESA-ISA Cassini probe.

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The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has officially come to end on Sept. 15, 2017. See footage of the loss of signal (LOS) call from mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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The Cassini spacecraft disintegrated into Saturn’s atmosphere on 15 September 2017, at 11:55:46 UTC. The Cassini–Huygens mission was launched on 15 October 1997 to study Saturn in detail. The Cassini spacecraft carried the Huygens probe, which parachuted to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

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On Sept. 15, NASA's Cassini spacecraft completed its remarkable story of exploration with an intentional plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, ending its mission after nearly 20 years in space. Live commentary of Cassini’s end of mission activities was shown on NASA TV and the agency’s website. Launched in 1997, Cassini arrived in orbit around Saturn in 2004 on a mission to study the giant planet, its rings, moons and magnetosphere

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