Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Great Images in Nasa Collection
Title:
Repair to the Huygens probe
Full Description:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) workers examine the Huygens probe after removal from the Cassini spacecraft in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at KSC. The spacecraft was returned to the PHSF after damage to the thermal insulation was discovered inside Huygens from an abnormally high flow of conditioned air. The damage required technicians to inspect the inside of the probe, repair the insulation, and clean the instruments.

After returning from the PHSF to Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Cassini/Huygens launched successfully in October 1997, and reached Saturn in July of 2004. Scientific instruments carried aboard the Cassini orbiter will study Saturn's atmosphere, magnetic field, rings, and several moons, while the Huygens probe will separate and land on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.

The Cassini-Huygens mission owes its name to the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens and Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini. Both had spectacular careers as observers of the heavens, which included important discoveries about Saturn and its satellites. Huygens (1629-1695) discovered Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in 1655 and in 1656 described the shape and phase changes of Saturn's rings. Cassini (1625-1712) was the first to observe four of Saturn's moons, Iapetus, Rhea, Tethys, and Dione, in the 1670s and 1680s. He also, in 1675, discovered the gap in Saturn's rings, now called the Cassini Division, and proposed that the rings were formed from many tiny particles.

Cassini-Huygens is a joint mission of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). JPL is managing the Cassini project for NASA. The mission was proposed in November 1982 by a group of European and American scientists from the European Science Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences. The Solar System Exploration Committee of the NASA Advisory Council endorsed the idea in April 1983, and NASA and ESA began a joint assessment study in 1984. ESA officially adopted the project in November 1988, and Congress approved funding for NASA's portion of the mission in FY 89.
Date:
09/10/1997
NASA Center:
Kennedy Space Center
Subject Category:
Space Probes
Subject Category:
Planet-Saturn
Keywords:
space
Keywords:
JPL
Keywords:
KSC
Keywords:
Saturn
Keywords:
Cassini
Keywords:
deep
Keywords:
probes
Keywords:
planetary
Keywords:
Huygens
Audience:
General Public
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Saturn
facet_what:
Titan
facet_what:
Cassini
facet_what:
Huygens Probe
facet_what:
Rhea
facet_what:
Cassini-Huygens
facet_what:
Dione
facet_what:
Iapetus
facet_what:
Tethys
facet_what:
Cassini Orbiter
facet_where:
Saturn
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Rhea
facet_where:
Dione
facet_where:
Tethys
facet_where:
Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when:
1984
facet_when:
1655
facet_when:
1656
facet_when:
1675
facet_when:
2004
facet_when:
November 1988
facet_when:
October 1997
facet_when:
November 1982
facet_when:
April 1983
facet_when:
09-10-1997
facet_when_year:
1988
facet_when_year:
1997
facet_when_year:
1982
facet_when_year:
2004
facet_when_year:
1983
facet_when_year:
1655
facet_when_year:
1656
facet_when_year:
1675
facet_when_year:
1984
Image #:
KSC-97PC-1392
original_url:
UID:
SPD-GRIN-GPN-2004-00 030
Center:
KSC
Center Number:
KSC-97PC-1392
GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2004-00030
Creator-Photographer:
NASA
Original Source:
Digital

Repair to the Huygens probe