Suggested Searches

1 min read

Cassini Processing and Launch Gallery

The headshot image of NASA

NASA

Sep 21, 1997
Image Article
The Cassini spacecraft, with the Huygens probe visible on the right in this photo, sits atop a Titan IVB rocket
The Cassini spacecraft, with the Huygens probe visible on the right in this photo, sits atop a Titan IVB expendable launch vehicle at Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where it awaits placement of its payload fairing to protect Cassini during launch.

The Cassini spacecraft, with the Huygens probe visible on the right in this photo, sits atop a Titan IVB expendable launch vehicle at Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where it awaits placement of its payload fairing to protect Cassini during launch. Cassini launched Oct. 15, 1997.

A joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Cassini has been studying the Saturnian system since its June 30, 2004 arrival at the ringed planet. The spacecraft has returned remarkable images and readings of Saturn, its rings and moons. Cassini also carried the Huygens probe, which parachuted to the surface of the planet’s largest moon, Titan, in January 2005. The mission will end Sept. 15 with an atmospheric entry into Saturn. For more information and images from the mission, visit https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini.

Sept. 21, 1997

Photo credit: NASA