The Cassini Spacecraft Arrives Today at Saturn

The Cassini spacecraft arrives today at Saturn after a 3.5-billion-km, seven year voyage from Earth. For four additional years or longer the craft will loop around the ringed planet and its moons making various measurements. In December 2004 it will deliver a detachable probe, called Huygens, at the moon Titan, where it should descend to the surface. Titan is of great interest to scientists since it is the only moon in the Solar System with an atmosphere of its own. In fact, Cassini will fly past Titan as soon as July 2 and will do so dozens of times thereafter, coming as close as 950 km.. Already Cassini has taken pictures of Titan which, with the help of special filters, reveal bright and dark patches on the moon's surface. (For more Cassini news, see NASA website.)