Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF)
IRF's participation in NASA and ESA's Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn
Cassini approaches Saturn (Artist's impression: NASA)
Cassini/Huygens makes its first fly-by of the moon Titan on 26 October 2004.
The Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn, launched on 15 October 1997, is the most ambitious human planetary expedition ever mounted to the outer giant planets. With a size as large as a bus, a weight of 5.8 tons, and equipped with more than 20 scientific instruments it aims to investigate in detail the planet Saturn and its many icy moons in the years 2004-2008. In particular, the large moon Titan with its thick atmosphere is the main target of the joint American and European mission (NASA and ESA). In addition a small spacecraft (Huygens) will be detached from Cassini and land on the surface of Titan early in 2005.
Cassini is now orbiting Saturn after a seven year journey. The spacecraft used the planets Venus (twice), Earth and Jupiter (which it passed in December 2000) to gain speed and thereby shorten the trip. Cassini/Huygens went into orbit round Saturn on 1 July 2004 after successfully making its way through the planet's rings.
The Space Plasma Physics research programme at IRF in Uppsala is a co-investigator (CoI) department within the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) investigation on Cassini. (The Principal Investigator or PI department is at the University of Iowa in USA.) RPWS consists of three instrument parts, one of which is under IRF-Uppsala's responsibility. Our main scientific interests deal with the thin electrical gas situated in the Saturnian magnetic field and the upper atmosphere of Titan. We provide an instrument for measuring the density and temperature of the electrical gas (plasma). Our instrument is a spherical Langmuir probe, made of titanium (Ti) with a surface coating of TiN. The probe is on a short boom extending from the spacecraft just behind the parabolic main antenna.
The project planning started sometime in 1982 and IRF's instrument planning started during 1989. This illustrates the necessary time span for planning this type of mission.
Langmuir probe on Cassini/Huygens (Photo: IRF Uppsala)
| Launched: | 15 October 1997 |
| Destination: | Saturn and its moon Titan |
| IRF instrument: | Langmuir probe, part of the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument (PI: University of Iowa, USA) |
| Contact for scientific information: | Ass. Prof. Jan-Erik Wahlund |
| Web pages : | Cassini/Huygens project at IRF Uppsala |
Press releases from IRF:
- Press information 2004-10-21 (in Swedish)
- Press information 2004-06-30 (in Swedish)
- Press information 2004-06-03 (in Swedish)
[IRF Uppsala] [Space Plasma Physics programme]
Updated by <Webmaster*irf.se>
Last update was 2004-10-21