Cassini: A NASA orbiter mission launched back in 1997 towards Saturn to be the first mission ever to orbit it. Cassini ended its mission back in 2017 in a grand finale with 22 close flybys between Saturn and its rings. The spacecraft was equipped with two main engines; one primary and the other was a backup. For small route corrections, 16 thrusters were available; 8 primary and 8 secondary. Cassini was covered with 24 layers of thermal blankets to shield itself against the cold temperatures at Saturn’s orbit and also against meteorite impacts. Due to the spacecraft’s distance from the Sun, it wasn’t powered by solar arrays, rather, by three nuclear reactors called “Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators” (RTG.) ESA also sent the Huygens probe on board Cassini which it landed on Saturn’s moon; Titan back in 2015 to be the first landing on an object located in the outer solar system.

Cassini – The Mission to Saturn

Cassini: A NASA orbiter mission launched back in 1997 towards Saturn to be the first mission ever to orbit it. Cassini ended its mission back in 2017 in a grand finale with 22 close flybys between Saturn and its rings. The spacecraft was equipped with two main engines; one primary and the other was a backup. For small route corrections, 16 thrusters were available; 8 primary and 8 secondary. 

Cassini was covered with 24 layers of thermal blankets to shield itself against the cold temperatures at Saturn’s orbit and also against meteorite impacts. Due to the spacecraft’s distance from the Sun, it wasn’t powered by solar arrays, rather, by three nuclear reactors called “Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators” (RTG.) 

ESA also sent the Huygens probe on board Cassini which it landed on Saturn’s moon; Titan back in 2015 to be the first landing on an object located in the outer solar system.

Click here to learn more about other space missions 

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