Cassini/Huygens deep-space manoeuvre
2 December 1998
08:24 CET "The burn has started as scheduled and everything on board the spacecraft is fine", reports Huygens project scientist, Jean-Pierre Lebreton. More information will be shown on completion of the deep-space manoeuvre.The Cassini spacecraft, carrying ESA's Huygens Probe, is performing a scheduled main engine burn (deep space manoeuvre). This began at approximately 07:00 Central European Time (06:00 UTC), Thursday 3 December, 1998.The manoeuvre involves firing Cassini's main engine for about 90 minutes in order to slow Cassini down by about 450 metres per second. This is in preparation for the flyby of Venus in June next year.
You can view the change in speed of the Cassini spacecraft live from NASA/JPL by following the links provided (from 05:00 UTC onwards).
Last Update: 1 September 2019
