Historical Photo Of The Month - August 2004

Cassini-Huygens Assembly
Photograph Number P-47936C

The Cassini spacecraft is now in orbit around Saturn. It was launched October 15, 1997, from Cape Canaveral in Florida and arrived at Saturn nearly seven years later, on June 30, 2004. In December 2004 the Huygens probe will be released over Titan, one of Saturn's 31 moons. It will descend through Titan's thick atmosphere on a parachute, conducting a series of scientific observations during the 2 1/2 hours it takes to reach the surface. It is hoped that the probe will survive the landing, to continue its observations on the surface for at least a few minutes.

The image above shows an engineering model of the Huygens probe, wrapped in gold colored insulating material, being installed on the Cassini spacecraft at JPL in October 1996. This engineering model was sent to JPL to undergo a series of vibration, thermal, and other tests. Its exact duplicate, the flight model, was sent to Florida where it was later installed on the spacecraft.

A full-size model of Cassini-Huygens can be found in the Air and Space Gallery at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. An engineering model of the probe has been used by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) to conduct operations training and tests in preparation for Huygens activities.

For more information about Cassini, see the on line press kit Cassini-Huygens Saturn Arrival, or contact the JPL Archives.

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