This is an artist's rendition of Cassini's arrival at Saturn in 2004. Sunlight glints off the the spacecraft's magnetometer boom in the lower right.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy NASA.

Cassini approaches Saturn's Moon Phoebe
News story originally written on June 11, 2004

The Cassini spacecraft, en route to Saturn, will zoom past Saturn's odd moon Phoebe on June 11, 2004. Cassini will pass within 2,000 km (1,243 miles) of the moon's surface and should send back images with a resolution of 0.3 to 2.1 km (0.2 to 1.3 miles) per pixel. Those should be about 1,000 times better than our best current images of Phoebe, which were captured by Voyager 2 in September 1981.

A few weeks later, Cassini will end its long journey to Saturn, begun in October 1997 with its liftoff from Florida. On July 1, 2004, Cassini will fire its main engine for 96 minutes to slow itself down and go into orbit around Saturn. It will study Saturn, several of its moons, and its amazing ring system for the next four years.

Last modified June 10, 2004 by Randy Russell.

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Cassini

The Cassini probe began its journey to Saturn on October 15, 1997. It flew by Earth in August, 1999, before heading towards the distant planet. Cassini passed Jupiter in 2000 and then burned towards its...more

Voyager

The rare geometric arrangement of planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in the 1980's made it possible for the Voyager spacecrafts to visit them over a 12 year span instead of the normal 30. They...more

Cassini is Off!

Cassini has begun its 2.2 billion-mile journey to Saturn. Cassini was launched on a Titan rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early in the morning on October 15, 1997. The Cassini probe is one...more

Saturn's Rings

Many people are fascinated by Saturn's rings. Although Saturn isn't the only planet with rings, it is the only planet famous for them. Almost every image or drawing of the planet has the rings included....more

Cassini arrives at Saturn

The Cassini spacecraft will arrive at Saturn on June 30, 2004. Cassini's engine will make a critical 96-minute burn starting at 7:36 p.m. Pacific Time (10:36 p.m. EDT) on June 30. The burn will slow Cassini...more

Huygens probe on its way to Titan

NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is in orbit around Saturn, released the Huygens probe and sent it on its way to Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The probe, pushed away from the Cassini "mothership"...more

A Rover on the Red Planet! Spirit Will Look at the Geology of Mars

NASA’s rover, named Spirit, has successfully landed and will soon be scouting the surface of Mars for interesting geology! Scientists are interested to know whether the depression where Spirit landed...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA