24 Million Kilometers to Saturn
Explanation:
Next stop:
Saturn.
The
Cassini-Huygens spacecraft
is approaching Saturn and will fire its engines to break
into orbit around the ringed giant on July 1.
The robot spacecraft was
launched in 1997 and
rounded Jupiter in 2001.
As
Cassini orbits Saturn over the next four years,
it will swoop past many of
Saturn's moons for unprecedented close-ups and even drop a probe onto
Titan.
Pictured above, Cassini imaged
Saturn two weeks ago as it closed to only 24 million kilometers out.
Visible are
complex cloud patterns,
thousands of rings, a
shadow angle
not visible from Earth, and a
moon
(if you can
find it).
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
