Cassini Spacecraft

A NASA spacecraft snapped dazzling new photos of two Saturn moons and began tilting its orbit in preparation for more a detailed study of the giant planet's poles and rings. The Cassini probe made its closest-ever flyby of the tiny moon Methone on May 20 ...  

Written by Jia-Rui C. Cook NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made its closest approach to Saturn’s tiny moon Methone as part of a trajectory that will take it on a close flyby of another of Saturn’s moons, Titan. The Titan flyby will put the spacecraft in an orbit around Saturn [...]  

MistrX writes with a tidbit about what the Cassini probe is up to nowadays. From the article: "NASA's Cassini spacecraft made its closest approach to Saturn's tiny moon Methone as part of a trajectory that will take it on a close flyby of another of Saturn's moons, Titan. The Titan flyby will put the spacecraft in an orbit around Saturn that is inclined, or tilted, relative to the plane of the planet's equator. The flyby of Methone took place...  

Written by Jia-Rui C. Cook NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft successfully flew by Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Dione during close flybys on May 2nd, 2012, capturing these raw images. The flybys were the last close encounters of these icy moons that Cassini will make for three years. Cassini flew by [...]  

Jet Propulsion LaboratoryEnceladus gets last visit from Cassini spacecraft until 2015Spaceflight NowBY STEPHEN CLARK NASA's Cassini spacecraft skimmed 46 miles above the icy surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wednesday, taking radio measurements to deduce what might feed powerful geysers of water vapor streaming into space from the enigmatic ...NASA probe swings by to snap great photos of Saturn moonsmsnbc.comEnceladus on display in newest...  

Scientists working with images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have discovered strange, half-mile-sized objects punching through one of Saturn's rings and leaving glittering trails behind them.  

The robotic Cassini spacecraft captured a spectacular view of Saturn's moon Dione on its closest-ever fly-past - and caught two of the ringed planet's 62 other moons in the background.  

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 04, 2012 NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully flew by Saturn's moons Enceladus and Dione during close flybys on May 2, 2012, capturing these raw images. The flybys were the last close encounters of these icy moons that Cassini will make for three years. Cassini flew by Enceladus at an altitude of about 46 miles (74 kilometers). This flyby was designed primarily for the radio science sub-system to  

But the images become awe-inspiring when you realize they are all actually real photos taken by NASA ... "I think the F ring is Saturn's weirdest ring, and these latest Cassini results go to show how the F ring is even more dynamic than we ever thought ...  

Pasadena, CA – Saturn’s giant moon Titan hides behind a thick, smoggy atmosphere that’s well known to scientists as one of the most complex chemical environments in the solar system. It’s a productive “factory” cranking out ...  

Explanation: What's that past Dione? When making its closest pass yet of Saturn's moon Dione late last year, the robotic Cassini spacecraft snapped this far-ranging picture featuring Dione, Saturn's rings, and the two small moons Epimetheus and Prometheus. The above image captures part of the heavily cratered snow-white surface of the 1,100 kilometer wide Dione, the thinness of Saturn's rings, and the comparative darkness of the smaller moon...  

A moon of Saturn that looks like a cosmic wet sponge is in fact covered in ices, both of water and carbon dioxide, images from a NASA spacecraft show. Hyperion, with an irregular potato-like shape and honeycomb surface, is the subject of a new analysis of images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in September 2005, ScienceNews.org reported Wednesday. Hydrocarbons and iron-containing compounds mixed in with the ice give the moon a reddish...  

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, floats along the giant planet's rings like a jewel on a necklace in this May 6 photo from the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini was seeing the rings edge-on, so they form a thin ribbon while casting dark shadows on Saturn's southern hemisphere. Cassini was about 475,000 miles (765,000 km) from Titan when it snapped the picture. [NASA/JPL/SSI] Text ©2012 The University of Texas at Austin McDonald...  

Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show that the variation in radio waves controlled by the planet's rotation is different in the northern and southern hemispheres. Moreover, the northern and southern rotational variations also appear to change with the Saturnian seasons, and the hemispheres have actually swapped rates.  

The latest images are in from Saturn’s very own personal paparazzi, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, fresh from its early morning flyby of the ice-spewing moon Enceladus. And, being its last closeup for the next three years, the little moon didn’t disappoint!