Extension of the International Cassini Mission for Two Years

“When we designed the original tour, we really did not know what we would find, especially at Enceladus and Titan,” said Dennis Matson, the JPL Cassini project scientist. “This extended tour is responding to these new discoveries and giving us a chance to look for more.”

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“This extension is not only exciting for the science community, but for the world to continue to share in unlocking Saturn’s secrets,” said Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington. “New discoveries are the hallmarks of its success, along with the breathtaking images beamed back to Earth that are simply mesmerizing.”

On April 15, 2008, NASA announced that the International Cassini mission was to be extended for another two years, involving the touring of Saturn and its moon. Since the Cassini mission has been in existence since 2004, the unmanned probe has sent back 140,000 images with its original mission supposedly ending in July of this year.

Four years of data brought also 62 revolutions around Saturn, 43 flybys of Titan, and 12 close flybys of the icy moons. It is one of the most scientifically capable spacecraft ever launched, with a record 12 instruments on the orbiter and six more instruments on the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe, which piggybacked a ride to Titan on Cassini.