Artists impression of the Huygens probe descending under parachute

Mission Objectives

The Cassini-Huygens mission is designed to explore the Saturnian system and all its elements: the planet and its atmosphere, rings and magnetosphere, and a large number of its moons, particularly Titan and the icy satellites.

The exploration of Titan is at the very heart of the Cassini-Huygens mission. Titan encounters are used for making the gravity-assist orbit changes that shape the orbital tour around Saturn. During each Titan fly-by, the Orbiter will perform a set of in orbit and remote sensing observations of the surface, the atmosphere and the plasma environment.

The detailed atmosphere descent data set acquired by the Probe and the global coverage that will be provided by the Orbiter observations during targeted fly-bys will provide a unique wealth of new scientific information. It will substantially increase our knowledge of Titan, the enigmatic planet-sized moon shrouded by a thick, hazy and chemically active atmosphere.

Folowing the successful landing of Huygens it is anticipated that further details on the surface and possibly the interior of Titan will be discovered.

Mission Name

Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), was a Dutch astronomer who discovered Saturn's rings and, in 1655, its largest moon Titan.

NASA's Saturn orbiter is named after the French/Italian astronomer Jean-Dominique Cassini, who discovered several Saturnian satellites and a number of ring features, including the eponymous Cassini division, during the period 1671-1685.

Spacecraft

• the 318 kg Huygens Probe, which enters Titan's atmosphere after separating from theSaturn Orbiter;
• the 30 kg Probe Support Equipment (PSE), which remains attached to the Orbiter after Probe separation.

The Probe itself consists of the Entry Assembly (ENA) cocooning the Descent Module (DM). The ENA provides Orbiter attachment, umbilical separation and ejection, cruise and entry thermal protection, and entry deceleration control. It is jettisoned after entry, releasing the Descent Module.

The DM comprises an aluminium shell and inner structure containing all the experiments and Probe support subsystems, including the parachute descent and spin control devices.

The PSE consists of:

• four electronic boxes aboard the Orbiter: two Probe Support Avionics (PSA), a Receiver Front End (RFE) and a Receiver Ultra Stable Oscillator (RUSO)
• the Spin Eject Device (SED)
• the harness (including the umbilical connector) providing power and RF and data links between the PSA, Probe and Orbiter.

Orbit

• 27 April 1998 - Venus
• 24 June 1999 - Venus
• 18 August 1999 - Earth
• 30 December 2000 - Jupiter

Operations Centre

Cassini Orbiter
Mission and Science Operations from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena. Communication through NASA's Deep Space Network.

Huygens Probe
Operations are managed by the Huygens Probe Operations Center (HPOC), located in ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.