Browse All : Ulysses of Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

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Ulysses Preparations
title Ulysses Preparations
date 06.06.1990
description Technicians in Hangar AO on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station continue preflight checkout and testing of the Ulysses spacecraft. Ulysses is a NASA/European Space Agency project launched from the Space Shuttle (Mission STS-41). *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL
Ulysses Patera
title Ulysses Patera
description This feature is an example of a class of volcanos that are considerably smaller than either the broad shield volcanos or Alba Patera. The summit consists of a single, very circular caldera with a smooth floor that predates the ejecta from two large impact craters. The lower flanks of the volcano, including portions of the impact craters, have been buried by the material that makes up the surrounding plains. This superpositional relationship indicates that the plains were emplaced subsequent to both the volcano and large impact craters on the volcano. The plains are probably made up of lava supplied from the Tharsis Montes that flowed down the sides of the broad uplift associated with the Tharsis shields. Both the plains and the volcano are cut by a graben (a paired set of linear faults), indicating tectonic activity subsequent to the emplacement of the plains. This image was taken by NASA's Viking 2 orbiter in 1977. *Image Credit*: NASA
Ulysses and Comet Hyakutake
title Ulysses and Comet Hyakutake
description An artist's impression of the Ulysses spacecraft passing through the tail of comet Hyakutake. Ulysses unexpectedly encountered the tail of comet Hyakutake in May 1996. At the time, Hyakutake's nucleus was close to the Sun - more than 525,000,000 km (326,000,000 miles) away. The measurement was the longest comet tail ever recorded. The discovery revealed comet tails - streams of ions, gas and dust extending away from the Sun - were much longer than previously believed. *Image Credit*: European Space Agency/David Hardy
Ulysses Launch
title Ulysses Launch
date 10.06.1990
description The Space Shuttle Discovery hurtles into space as sister ship Columbia looks on from Launch Pad 39A. Discovery lifted off from pad 39B at 7:47 a.m. EDT, Oct. 6. Columbia will be moved to the vacated pad 39B where it will undergo testing to pinpoint the source of a liquid hydrogen leak. Discovery is carrying a crew of five and the Ulysses solar explorer as it embarks on mission STS-41, a four-day flight. *Image Credit*: NASA
Ulysses Leaves Earth
title Ulysses Leaves Earth
description An artist's impression of the Ulysses spacecraft mated with its solid rocket booster drifting away from the Space Shuttle Discovery. The booster was used to push Ulysses out of Earth orbit towards Jupiter. Ulysses used Jupiter's gravity to hurl it into an orbit that takes it over the Sun's polar regions, an area not visible to Earth-based observers. *Image Credit*: Boeing, NASA and European Space Agency
Ulysses and the Sun
title Ulysses and the Sun
description An artist's impression of Ulysses in the complex environment of our Sun. Ulysses has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of the Sun, the heliosphere, and our local interstellar neighbourhood. *Image Credit*: David Hardy, NASA and the European Space Agency
Ulysses Mission Logo
title Ulysses Mission Logo
description The European Space Agency's Ulysses mission logo. *Image Credit*: European Space Agency
Ulysses at Jupiter
title Ulysses at Jupiter
date 02.04.2004
description An artist's impression of the Ulysses spacecraft at Jupiter. Ulysses used Jupiter's powerful gravity to hurl it out of the Plane of the Ecliptic (where most planets and satellites orbit) so it could study the polar regions of the Sun. *Image Credit*: NASA/European Space Agency
Ulysses Patera
PIA09993
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Ulysses Patera
Original Caption Released with Image Context image for PIA09993 Ulysses Patera This infrared image shows half of Ulysses Patera. Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -0.1N, Longitude 237.6E. 98 meter/pixel resolution. Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note [ http://themis.la.asu.edu/terms ] for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Ulysses Patera
PIA09993
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Ulysses Patera
Original Caption Released with Image Context image for PIA09993 Ulysses Patera This infrared image shows half of Ulysses Patera. Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -0.1N, Longitude 237.6E. 98 meter/pixel resolution. Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note [ http://themis.la.asu.edu/terms ] for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Ulysses Patera
PIA09998
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Ulysses Patera
Original Caption Released with Image Context image for PIA09998 Ulysses Patera This VIS image shows part of the summit caldera and south-eastern flank of Ulysses Patera. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 2.3N, Longitude 238.8E. 18 meter/pixel resolution. Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note [ http://themis.la.asu.edu/terms ] for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Ulysses Patera
PIA09998
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Ulysses Patera
Original Caption Released with Image Context image for PIA09998 Ulysses Patera This VIS image shows part of the summit caldera and south-eastern flank of Ulysses Patera. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 2.3N, Longitude 238.8E. 18 meter/pixel resolution. Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note [ http://themis.la.asu.edu/terms ] for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Before-and-After Look at Imp …
PIA09023
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Before-and-After Look at Impact Craters
Original Caption Released with Image Two of the 20 new impact craters determined by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 occur at a location that the narrow-angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising given that the narrow-angle camera, with its 3-kilometer-wide (1.9-mile-wide) field of view, has only covered about 5.2 percent of the Martian surface. One of the two craters that formed where the camera had already taken a narrow-angle image is featured here. Figure A: The colorized image and figure A show sub-frames of an image acquired on March 13, 2006. This image has been colorized using a table derived from the colors of Mars as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. The impact site is located near 27.3 degrees north latitude, 91.8 degrees west longitude, on the upper north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera. Fine details are evident at the impact site, showing how the blast moved dust around and interacted with craters and other small obstacles on the ground. The crater has a diameter of about 19.8 meters (about 65 feet). Figure B: The second figure shows before-and-after narrow-angle camera views of the impact site. The before image was acquired on Feb. 24, 2002. The after image was acquired on March 13, 2006. Other images from Mars-orbiting spacecraft cover this location and show the impact site, including data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera and Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System. These other data help constrain when the impact occurred. The last orbiter image obtained before the impact was taken on April 18, 2003. The first orbiter image that showed the impact feature was obtained on Feb. 7, 2004. Thus, the impact occurred between those dates, April 18, 2003, and Feb. 7, 2004. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ].
Before-and-After Look at Imp …
PIA09023
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Before-and-After Look at Impact Craters
Original Caption Released with Image Two of the 20 new impact craters determined by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 occur at a location that the narrow-angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising given that the narrow-angle camera, with its 3-kilometer-wide (1.9-mile-wide) field of view, has only covered about 5.2 percent of the Martian surface. One of the two craters that formed where the camera had already taken a narrow-angle image is featured here. Figure A: The colorized image and figure A show sub-frames of an image acquired on March 13, 2006. This image has been colorized using a table derived from the colors of Mars as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. The impact site is located near 27.3 degrees north latitude, 91.8 degrees west longitude, on the upper north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera. Fine details are evident at the impact site, showing how the blast moved dust around and interacted with craters and other small obstacles on the ground. The crater has a diameter of about 19.8 meters (about 65 feet). Figure B: The second figure shows before-and-after narrow-angle camera views of the impact site. The before image was acquired on Feb. 24, 2002. The after image was acquired on March 13, 2006. Other images from Mars-orbiting spacecraft cover this location and show the impact site, including data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera and Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System. These other data help constrain when the impact occurred. The last orbiter image obtained before the impact was taken on April 18, 2003. The first orbiter image that showed the impact feature was obtained on Feb. 7, 2004. Thus, the impact occurred between those dates, April 18, 2003, and Feb. 7, 2004. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ].
Before-and-After Look at Imp …
PIA09023
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Before-and-After Look at Impact Craters
Original Caption Released with Image Two of the 20 new impact craters determined by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 occur at a location that the narrow-angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising given that the narrow-angle camera, with its 3-kilometer-wide (1.9-mile-wide) field of view, has only covered about 5.2 percent of the Martian surface. One of the two craters that formed where the camera had already taken a narrow-angle image is featured here. Figure A: The colorized image and figure A show sub-frames of an image acquired on March 13, 2006. This image has been colorized using a table derived from the colors of Mars as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. The impact site is located near 27.3 degrees north latitude, 91.8 degrees west longitude, on the upper north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera. Fine details are evident at the impact site, showing how the blast moved dust around and interacted with craters and other small obstacles on the ground. The crater has a diameter of about 19.8 meters (about 65 feet). Figure B: The second figure shows before-and-after narrow-angle camera views of the impact site. The before image was acquired on Feb. 24, 2002. The after image was acquired on March 13, 2006. Other images from Mars-orbiting spacecraft cover this location and show the impact site, including data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera and Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System. These other data help constrain when the impact occurred. The last orbiter image obtained before the impact was taken on April 18, 2003. The first orbiter image that showed the impact feature was obtained on Feb. 7, 2004. Thus, the impact occurred between those dates, April 18, 2003, and Feb. 7, 2004. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ].
Before-and-After Look at Imp …
PIA09023
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Before-and-After Look at Impact Craters
Original Caption Released with Image Two of the 20 new impact craters determined by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 occur at a location that the narrow-angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising given that the narrow-angle camera, with its 3-kilometer-wide (1.9-mile-wide) field of view, has only covered about 5.2 percent of the Martian surface. One of the two craters that formed where the camera had already taken a narrow-angle image is featured here. Figure A: The colorized image and figure A show sub-frames of an image acquired on March 13, 2006. This image has been colorized using a table derived from the colors of Mars as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. The impact site is located near 27.3 degrees north latitude, 91.8 degrees west longitude, on the upper north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera. Fine details are evident at the impact site, showing how the blast moved dust around and interacted with craters and other small obstacles on the ground. The crater has a diameter of about 19.8 meters (about 65 feet). Figure B: The second figure shows before-and-after narrow-angle camera views of the impact site. The before image was acquired on Feb. 24, 2002. The after image was acquired on March 13, 2006. Other images from Mars-orbiting spacecraft cover this location and show the impact site, including data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera and Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System. These other data help constrain when the impact occurred. The last orbiter image obtained before the impact was taken on April 18, 2003. The first orbiter image that showed the impact feature was obtained on Feb. 7, 2004. Thus, the impact occurred between those dates, April 18, 2003, and Feb. 7, 2004. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ].
Before-and-After Look at Imp …
PIA09023
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Before-and-After Look at Impact Craters
Original Caption Released with Image Two of the 20 new impact craters determined by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 occur at a location that the narrow-angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising given that the narrow-angle camera, with its 3-kilometer-wide (1.9-mile-wide) field of view, has only covered about 5.2 percent of the Martian surface. One of the two craters that formed where the camera had already taken a narrow-angle image is featured here. Figure A: The colorized image and figure A show sub-frames of an image acquired on March 13, 2006. This image has been colorized using a table derived from the colors of Mars as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. The impact site is located near 27.3 degrees north latitude, 91.8 degrees west longitude, on the upper north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera. Fine details are evident at the impact site, showing how the blast moved dust around and interacted with craters and other small obstacles on the ground. The crater has a diameter of about 19.8 meters (about 65 feet). Figure B: The second figure shows before-and-after narrow-angle camera views of the impact site. The before image was acquired on Feb. 24, 2002. The after image was acquired on March 13, 2006. Other images from Mars-orbiting spacecraft cover this location and show the impact site, including data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera and Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System. These other data help constrain when the impact occurred. The last orbiter image obtained before the impact was taken on April 18, 2003. The first orbiter image that showed the impact feature was obtained on Feb. 7, 2004. Thus, the impact occurred between those dates, April 18, 2003, and Feb. 7, 2004. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ].
Gigas Meets Ulysses
PIA04642
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Gigas Meets Ulysses
Original Caption Released with Image Released 9 July 2003 Roughly halfway between the great volcanoes of Olympus Mons and Pavonis Mons, the graben (troughs) of Ulysses Fossae intersect with the furrows of Gigas (gigantic) Sulci. A clear time sequence is evident: first came the formation of the sulci terrain (to the left), which then was fractured by graben radial to Olympus Mons, followed by flooding of lava. All but the deepest graben are filled by lava in the topographic low between the two volcanic rises. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 11.8, Longitude 234.3 East (125.7 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Gigas Meets Ulysses
PIA04642
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Gigas Meets Ulysses
Original Caption Released with Image Released 9 July 2003 Roughly halfway between the great volcanoes of Olympus Mons and Pavonis Mons, the graben (troughs) of Ulysses Fossae intersect with the furrows of Gigas (gigantic) Sulci. A clear time sequence is evident: first came the formation of the sulci terrain (to the left), which then was fractured by graben radial to Olympus Mons, followed by flooding of lava. All but the deepest graben are filled by lava in the topographic low between the two volcanic rises. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 11.8, Longitude 234.3 East (125.7 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Ulysses Fossae in Tharsis
PIA04005
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Ulysses Fossae in Tharsis
Original Caption Released with Image Extensional forces in the volcanic province of Tharsis have produced a fractured terrain that resembles wrinkled skin. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (J …
Description Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) technicians finish mounting a thermal model of a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) on the installation cart which will be used to install the RTG in the Cassini spacecraft at Level 14 of Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Air Station. The technicians use the thermal model to practice installation procedures. The three actual RTGs which will provide electrical power to Cassini on its 6.7-mile trip to the Saturnian system, and during its four-year mission at Saturn, are being tested and monitored in the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Storage Building in KSC's Industrial Area. The RTGs use heat from the natural decay of plutonium to generate electric power. RTGs enable spacecraft to operate far from the Sun where solar power systems are not feasible. The RTGs on Cassini are of the same design as those flying on the already deployed Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft. The Cassini mission is targeted for an October 6 launch aboard a Titan IVB/Centaur expendable launch vehicle. Cassini is built and managed for NASA by JPL
Release Date 05/27/1997
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