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Titan Flyby - 10 March 2007

Titan Flyby - 10 March 2007

7 March 2007

Just 16 days after Titan-25, Cassini returns to Titan for its twenty-seventh targeted encounter: Titan-26. The closest approach to Titan occurs on Saturday, 10 March, at 01:49 UT at an altitude of 980 kilometres above the surface and at a speed of 6.2 kilometres per second.

The latitude at closest approach is 32.0° N and the encounter occurs on orbit number 40. This encounter is set up with two manoeuvres: an apoapsis manoeuvre on 2 March, and an approach manoeuvre, scheduled for 6 March. This is the second in a series of outbound Titan encounters (the series ends with T33), and occurs about 3 days after Saturn closest approach.

Science Activities

  • Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS)
    The Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer will be pointed in the spacecraft motion direction at closest approach to allow its detectors to scoop up material from the top of Titan's atmosphere and determine constituents. This flyby is of the Northern equatorial part of Titan and is at dusk and flank-in. This is the first opportunity for a high quality ion observation that is flank-in
  • Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) and the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS)
    Second of three Titan solar occultations in the prime mission. VIMS and UVIS will be observing the Sun as it passes through Titan's atmosphere at latitude 76° S
  • Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
    High-resolution coverage north of Belet and global mapping of the territory north of Belet and Adiri. This is only the second time that ISS has had an opportunity to observe new territory north of Belet and the first time at high resolution
  • Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS)
    Far-IR surface temperature maps. These scans (N-S or E-W) are designed to measure surface temperature variations through a spectral window after accounting for a haze component. Outbound, CIRS is doing a limb temperature scan, a limb aerosol scan, and a limb composition integration

Table of Events

17 February 2007

Time UTC Time wrt
Titan-26
Activity
10:52:00 - 20d 15h Start of sequence S28 which contains Titan-26

22 February 2007

Time UTC Time wrt
Titan-26
Activity
03:18:00 - 15d 23h Ascending ring plane crossing

5 March 2007

Time UTC Time wrt
Titan-26
Activity
21:01:00 - 04d 05h Descending ring plane crossing

6 March 2007

Time UTC Time wrt
Titan-26
Activity
17:06:00 - 03d 09h OTM #97 prime; Titan-26 targeting manoeuvre

7 March 2007

Time UTC Time wrt
Titan-26
Activity
07:09:00 - 02d 19h Saturn periapse, r = 12.1 RS, lat = -54°, phase = 83°

8 March 2007

Time UTC Time wrt
Titan-26
Activity
00:21:00 - 02d 01h OTM #97 backup

9 March 2007

Time UTC Time wrt
Titan-26
Activity
09:21:00 - 16h 28m Turn cameras to Titan
09:51:00 - 15h 58m Deadtime, 17 minutes long. Used to accommodate changes in flyby time
10:08:00 - 15h 41m ISS imaging, to search for and monitor lightning/aurora
11:08:00 - 14h 41m Titan atmospheric observations. Obtain information on the thermal structure of Titan's stratosphere
12:49:00 - 13h 00m Titan atmospheric observations. Obtain information on trace constituents in Titan's stratosphere
15:49:00 - 10h 00m ISS Imaging, WAC photometry
16:49:00 - 09h 00m Titan atmospheric observations. Obtain vertical profiles of temperatures in Titan's stratosphere.
20:49:00 - 05h 00m Titan atmospheric observations. Obtain information on surface & tropopause temperatures
23:34:00 - 02h 15m Titan atmospheric observations. Vertical sounding of stratospheric compounds on Titan

10 March 2007

Time UTC Time wrt
Titan-26
Activity
01:02:00 - 00h 47m Ingress solar occultation by Titan
01:38:00 - 00h 11m Titan atmospheric observations. Determine atmospheric and ionospheric composition and thermal structure
01:49:00 + 00h 00m Titan-26 flyby closest approach time.
Altitude = 980 km, speed = 6.2 kms-1, 150° phase at closest approach
02:12:00 + 00h 23m Titan atmospheric observations. Vertical temperature sounding of Titan's tropopause & stratosphere
03:35:00 + 01h 46m Titan atmospheric observations. Vertical sounding of stratospheric compounds on Titan
04:12:00 + 02h 23m ISS imaging: regional map
06:04:00 + 04h 15m Titan atmospheric observations. Obtain information on surface & tropopause temperatures
06:49:00 + 05h 00m Titan atmospheric observations. One slow scan across Titan's visible hemisphere to form spectral images
09:49:00 + 08h 00m ISS imaging: global map and WAC photometry
10:49:00 + 09h 00m Titan atmospheric observations. Obtain information on trace constituents in Titan's stratosphere
12:49:00 + 11h 00m ISS imaging. Monitoring for surface/atmosphere changes
14:49:00 + 13h 00m Titan atmospheric observations
17:03:00 + 15h 14m Deadtime, 14 minutes long. Used to accommodate changes in flyby time
17:17:00 + 15h 28m Turn to Earth-line
17:47:00 + 15h 58m Playback of T26 data


Observation Results

Cassini Instrument: Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)

Date: 24 April 2007

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Image Notes: Wide-angle camera image at 939 nm, showing Titan's dark terrain. Image taken from 255 000 km away, centred at 45° north latitude

Last Update: 1 September 2019
19-Mar-2024 06:21 UT

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