Search Publications
The Cassini CAPS Electron Spectrometer
Coates, A. J.; Linder, D. R.; Grande, M. +6 more
One of the major aims of the Cassini spacecraft is to characterize in detail the interaction of the solar wind with the Saturnian system. The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) addresses this aim by measuring the plasma particles, ions and electrons, with a suite of three complementary sensors. One of these, the Electron Spectrometer (ELS), will m…
Cassini uvis observations of Saturns rings
Colwell, Joshua E.; Esposito, Larry W.; McClintock, William E.
The Cassini Ultra-violet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) is part of the remote sensing payload of the Cassini Orbiter spacecraft. Its science objectives include investigation of the chemistry, clouds, and energy balance of the Titan and Saturn atmospheres ; neutrals in the magnetosphere ; D/H ratio for Titan and Saturn ; and structure and evolution of…
The Cassini Ion Mass Spectrometer
McComas, D. J.; Young, D. T.; Berthelier, J. -J. +2 more
The joint NASA/European Space Agency Cassini mission to Saturn will carry the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS). This instrument consists of three sensors, including the Ion Mass Spectrometer (IMS), a data processing unit, and an actuator that rotates CAPS in order to view a large fraction of the space environment. The IMS makes high sensitivity,…
The Cassini Ion Mass Spectrometer: Performance Metrics and Techniques
McComas, D. J.; Young, D. T.; Goldstein, R. +7 more
The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) Ion Mass Spectrometer (IMS) uses a unique electric field configuration coupled with precise sub-nanosecond timing to produce a high mass-resolution plasma analyzer with both broad energy and mass ranges. The IMS maintains a spectrographic mass resolution (m/Δm) of ≥50 over a mass range of 1 to 40amu for singl…
Cassini as a heliospheric probe - the potential of pick-up ion measurements during its cruise phase
Fichtner, H.; Mall, U.; Hamilton, D. C. +2 more
Measurements of the spatial distributions of pick-up ions can be utilized to infer important information about the structure of the heliosphere. First, a determination of the symmetry axis of flux distributions of pick-up ions not experiencing any significant filtration of their neutral parent atoms in the heliospheric interface represents a new m…
Cassini Plasma Spectrometer Investigation
Coates, A. J.; Grande, M.; Johnson, R. E. +22 more
Cassini/Huygens is a joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency designed to explore the Saturnian system in depth during its four-year mission. Cassini, the orbiter spacecraft, will carry twelve hardware investigations while Huygens, the Titan atmospheric probe, will carry an additional six. The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS), one of …
Imaging Saturns dust rings using energetic neutral atoms
Krimigis, S. M.; Mitchell, D. G.; Roelof, E. C. +3 more
The intense populations of magnetically trap- ped, energetic charged particles that constitute the radiation belts of Saturn's inner magnetosphere are slowly transported towards the planet by radial diffusion processes. Many of these energetic particles interact with the rings of Saturn and ultimately are lost to the magnetospheric system. Energet…
The Imaging Neutral Camera for the Cassini Mission to Saturn and Titan
Krimigis, S. M.; Mitchell, D. G.; Roelof, E. C. +8 more
The INCA sensor is the first Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) imager funded for flight by NASA. It is a part of the Cassini mission to Saturn, where it will be well suited to monitoring the global dynamics of the Saturn-Titan magnetospheric system throughout the orbital tour. The investigative requirement is to perform remote sensing of the magnetosph…
The Cassini-Huygens SSP refractometer : ref
Geake, J. E.; Mill, C. S.
The refractometer (REF) in the Huygens probe Surface Science Package (SSP) is a linear critical-angle refractometer ; it covers the refractive index range 1.2500-1.4500 with a discrimination of 0.0005, giving an accuracy of about 0.5% in the relative abundance of methane and ethane in the expected mixture on the possibly liquid surface of Titan. L…
An Italian tracking station for Cassini
Ambrosini, R.; Grueff, G.
We present a feasibility study for a 64 m fully steerable parabolic radiotelescope capable of high efficiency operation at frequencies up to 100 GHz. If funds are made available, and construction rapidly started, the antenna would be available in time to be used as a tracking station for the Cassini radio science experiments.