Cassini Mission Archive Home

Artist's rendition of Cassini orbiting Saturn
This still is from a short computer-animated film that highlights Cassini's accomplishments at Saturn and reveals the science-packed final orbits.
This website is the PDS home page for the Cassini mission to Saturn. It has information to help understand the spacecraft and mission, the instrument payload, details about how to find, calibrate, and analyze data from each instrument, and resources to help find more information about the core science areas that have been studied in the Saturn system. For detailed information regarding the Huygens probe, visit the European Space Agency's website.


OVERVIEW

The team made a major effort to summarize the mission. Volume 1 contains the science component: Mission Overview, Science Objectives and Results while technical information is contained in additional volumes archived at the Jet Propulsion Lab.

Mission Science Highlights and Science Objectives Assessment provides a brief overview of the mission

Look for data in a variety of ways:

MISSION SCIENCE AREAS

  • Saturn Planet and Atmosphere
    science includes Saturn's formation and evolution, interior fundamentals, atmospheric properties, global circulation and dynamics, auroral observations, ionosphere and magnetic fields.
  • Saturn's Rings
    science includes the configuration and process responsible for ring structure, composition, relationships with satellites, and interactions with Saturn's magnetosphere, ionosphere and atmosphere.
  • Magnetospheric
    science includes the configuration of Saturn's magnetic field, distribution of charged particles in the magnetosphere, Saturn's aurorae, and Titan's interaction with the magnetospheric plasma.
  • Titan
    science includes interior studies, surface investigations, Huygens Lander data, atmosphere and Magnetospheric interactions.
  • Icy Satellites, Enceladus, and Other Moons
    science includes the study of Enceladus, other icy satellites such as Dione, small moons such as Phoebe, and the ring-moon relationships.
  • Jupiter
    science includes atmosphere, rings and moons data collected during the Cassini flyby of Jupiter.

INSTRUMENTS

Optical Remote Sensing instruments

  • CIRS - Composite Infrared Spectrometer
    Infrared studies of temperature and composition of surfaces, atmospheres and rings within the Saturn system
  • ISS - Imaging Science Subsystem
    Multispectral imaging of Saturn, Titan, rings and icy satellites to observe their properties
  • UVIS - Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph
    Ultraviolet spectra and low-resolution imaging of atmospheres and rings for structure, chemistry and composition
  • VIMS - Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer
    Visible and infrared spectral mapping to study composition and structure of surfaces, atmospheres and rings

Radio Instruments

  • RADAR - Radio Detection and Ranging
    RADAR imaging, altimetry, and passive radiometry of Titan's surface
  • RSS - Radio Science Subsystem
    Study of atmospheric and ring structure, gravity fields and gravitational waves

Fields and Particles instruments

  • CAPS - Cassini Plasma Spectrometer
    Study of plasma within and near Saturn's magnetic field
  • CDA - Cosmic Dust Analyzer
    Study of ice and dust grains in the Saturn system
  • INMS - Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer
    Study of compositions of neutral and charged particles within the magnetosphere
  • MAG - Magnetometer
    Study of Saturn's magnetic field and interactions with the solar wind
  • MIMI - Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument
    Global magnetospheric imaging and measurements of Saturn's magnetosphere and solar wind interactions
  • RPWS - Radio and Plasma Wave Science
    Measurement of electric and magnetic fields, and electron density and temperature in the interplanetary medium and within Saturn's magnetosphere
For questions and comments, visit the PDS Cassini Contact Page