Spacecraft on Track to Go into Orbit Around Saturn ; Cassini Set to Thread Gap Between Rings
Posted on: Thursday, 1 July 2004, 06:00 CDT
PASADENA, Calif. - The Cassini spacecraft hurtled toward Saturn on Wednesday on a mission to thread the gap between two of its dazzling rings and settle into orbit around the giant planet, 900 million miles from Earth.
Flight scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Center said the craft was on track to enter orbit early today and begin the most detailed look ever at Saturn.
"This thing is not a slam dunk by any means," Cassini program manager Robert Mitchell said. But he added, "Our confidence is high."
The $3.3 billion mission, funded by U.S. and European space agencies, was designed to give scientists at least a four-year tour of Saturn and some of its 31 known moons. Cassini is scheduled to make 76 orbits and repeated fly-bys of the moons.
Scientists hope the mission will provide important clues about how the planets formed. Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest, intrigues scientists because it is like a model of the early solar system, when the sun was surrounded by a disk of gas and dust.
Cassini has traveled 2.2 billion miles since it was launched in 1997, getting gravitational assists from Earth and Venus as it caromed around the solar system.
The spacecraft took the roundabout route because the 22-foot- long, 13-foot-wide craft was too massive to be launched on a direct trajectory to Saturn.
Cassini also carried with it a probe - named Huygens - to be sent into the atmosphere of Saturn's big moon Titan in January. The moon, blanketed by a thick atmosphere of nitrogen and methane, is believed to have organic compounds resembling those on Earth billions of years before life appeared.
Navigation team chief Jeremy Jones said Cassini would reach speeds of up to 68,700 mph Wednesday as it was drawn into Saturn's gravity. Cassini was programmed to ascend through a gap between two of Saturn's rings, fire its rocket for 96 minutes to slow down, and then settle into orbit.
The craft risked flying right past the planet if the burn was not performed properly.
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