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The Cassini/Huygens Mission to the Saturnian System
Lebreton, Jean-Pierre; Matson, Dennis L.; Spilker, Linda J.
The international Cassini/Huygens mission consists of the Cassini Saturn Orbiter spacecraft and the Huygens Titan Probe that is targeted for entry into the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. From launch on October 15, 1997 to arrival at Saturn in July 2004, Cassini/Huygens will travel over three billion kilometers. Once in orbit about Sat…
The Characterisation of Titan's Atmospheric Physical Properties by the Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (Hasi)
Rodrigo, R.; Barucci, M. A.; Fulchignoni, M. +25 more
The Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI) is a multi-sensor package which has been designed to measure the physical quantities characterising the atmosphere of Titan during the Huygens probe descent on Titan and at the surface. HASI sensors are devoted to the study of Titan's atmospheric structure and electric properties, and to provide …
The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) Experiment on the Huygens Entry Probe of Titan
Tomasko, M. G.; Smith, P. H.; Fellows, C. +11 more
The payload of the Huygens Probe into the atmosphere of Titan includes the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR). This instrument includes an integrated package of several optical instruments built around a silicon charge coupled device (CCD) detector, a pair of linear InGaAs array detectors, and several individual silicon detectors. Fiber opt…
Magnetospheric and Plasma Science with Cassini-Huygens
Gurnett, D. A.; Dougherty, M. K.; Tsurutani, B. T. +27 more
Magnetospheric and plasma science studies at Saturn offer a unique opportunity to explore in-depth two types of magnetospheres. These are an ‘induced’ magnetosphere generated by the interaction of Titan with the surrounding plasma flow and Saturn's ‘intrinsic’ magnetosphere, the magnetic cavity Saturn's planetary magnetic field creates inside the …
The Huygens Doppler Wind Experiment - Titan Winds Derived from Probe Radio Frequency Measurements
Plettemeier, D.; Bird, M. K.; Wohlmuth, R. +10 more
A Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE) will be performed during the Titan atmospheric descent of the ESA Huygens Probe. The direction and strength of Titan's zonal winds will be determined with an accuracy better than 1 m s-1 from the start of mission at an altitude of ∼160 km down to the surface. The Probe's wind-induced horizontal motion wil…
Saturn's Rings: pre-Cassini Status and Mission Goals
Nicholson, P. D.; Spilker, L. J.; Porco, C. C. +8 more
Theoretical and observational progress in studies of Saturn's ring system since the mid-1980s is reviewed, focussing on advances in configuration and dynamics, composition and size distribution, dust and meteoroids, interactions of the rings with the planet and the magnetosphere, and relationships between the rings and various satellites. The Cass…
Touring the Saturnian System
Wolf, Aron A.
The Cassini mission to Saturn employs a Saturn orbiter and a Titan probe to conduct an intensive investigation of the Saturnian system. The orbiter flies a series of orbits, incorporating flybys of the Saturnian satellites, called the ‘satellite tour.’ During the tour, the gravitational fields of the satellites (mainly Titan) are used to modify an…
Cassini-Huygens Investigations of Satellite Surfaces and Interiors
Soderblom, Laurence A.; Lunine, Jonathan I.
The Saturnian system contains 18 known satellites ranging from 10 km to 2575 km in radius. In bulk properties and surface appearance these objects show less regularity than the sparser Jupiter system. The Galilean-sized moon Titan sports a dense atmosphere of nitrogen and methane which renders surface observations difficult, but also makes this mo…
Touring the saturnian system: the atmospheres of titan and saturn
Owen, Tobias; Gautier, Daniel
This report follows the presentation originally given in the ESA Phase A Study for the Cassini Huygens Mission. The combination of the Huygens atmospheric probe into Titan's atmosphere with the Cassini orbiter allows for both in-situ and remote-sensing observations of Titan. This not only provides a rich harvest of data about Saturn's famous satel…