| NASA Center: |
Kennedy Space Center |
|---|
| Image # : |
KSC-97PC-1392 |
|---|
| Date : |
09/10/1997
|
|---|
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Title
Repair to the Huygens probe
Full Description
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) workers examine the Huygens
probe after removal from the Cassini spacecraft in the Payload
Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at KSC. The spacecraft was
returned to the PHSF after damage to the thermal insulation was
discovered inside Huygens from an abnormally high flow of
conditioned air. The damage required technicians to inspect the
inside of the probe, repair the insulation, and clean the
instruments.
After returning from the PHSF to Launch Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral
Air Station, Cassini/Huygens launched successfully in October
1997, and reached Saturn in July of 2004. Scientific
instruments carried aboard the Cassini orbiter will study
Saturn's atmosphere, magnetic field, rings, and several moons,
while the Huygens probe will separate and land on the surface of
Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
The Cassini-Huygens mission owes its name to the Dutch
astronomer Christiaan Huygens and Italian astronomer Giovanni
Domenico Cassini. Both had spectacular careers as observers of
the heavens, which included important discoveries about Saturn
and its satellites. Huygens (1629-1695) discovered Saturn's
largest moon, Titan, in 1655 and in 1656 described the shape and
phase changes of Saturn's rings. Cassini (1625-1712) was the
first to observe four of Saturn's moons, Iapetus, Rhea, Tethys,
and Dione, in the 1670s and 1680s. He also, in 1675, discovered
the gap in Saturn's rings, now called the Cassini Division, and
proposed that the rings were formed from many tiny particles.
Cassini-Huygens is a joint mission of NASA, the European Space
Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale
Italiana (ASI). JPL is managing the Cassini project for NASA.
The mission was proposed in November 1982 by a group of European
and American scientists from the European Science Foundation and
the National Academy of Sciences. The Solar System Exploration
Committee of the NASA Advisory Council endorsed the idea in
April 1983, and NASA and ESA began a joint assessment study in
1984. ESA officially adopted the project in November 1988, and
Congress approved funding for NASA's portion of the mission in
FY 89.
Keywords
Cassini deep space probes planetary Saturn Huygens KSC JPL
Subject Category
Space Probes, Planet-Saturn
Reference Numbers
- Center:
KSC
- Center Number:
KSC-97PC-1392
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2004-00030
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: Digital
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
JPEG |
86 |
58 |
12 |
Small |
JPEG |
609 |
412 |
302 |
Medium |
JPEG |
1427 |
965 |
1,402 |
Large |
JPEG |
2853 |
1929 |
6,050 |
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Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
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