KSC-97PC-1546

	KSC-97PC-1546
	by NASA
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	KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A seven-year journey to the
	ringed planet Saturn begins with the liftoff of a Titan
	IVB/Centaur carrying the Cassini orbiter and its attached
	Huygens probe. Launch occurred at 4:43 a.m. EDT, Oct. 15,
	from Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Station.
	After a 2.2-billion mile journey that will include two
	swingbys of Venus and one of Earth to gain additional
	velocity, the two-story tall spacecraft will arrive at
	Saturn in July 2004. The orbiter will circle the planet
	for four years, its complement of 12 scientific
	instruments gathering data about Saturn's atmosphere,
	rings and magnetosphere and conducting closeup
	observations of the Saturnian moons. Huygens, with a
	separate suite of six science instruments, will separate
	from Cassini to fly on a ballistic trajectory toward
	Titan, the only celestial body besides Earth to have an
	atmosphere rich in nitrogen. Scientists are eager to
	study further this chemical similarity in hopes of
	learning more about the origins of our own planet Earth.
	Huygens will provide the first direct sampling of Titan's
	atmospheric chemistry and the first detailed photographs
	of its surface. The Cassini mission is an international
	effort involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA)
	and the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
	(ASI). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the U.S.
	contribution to the mission for NASA's Office of Space
	Science. The major U.S. contractor is Lockheed Martin,
	which provided the launch vehicle and upper stage,
	spacecraft propulsion module and radioisotope
	thermoelectric generators that will provide power for the
	spacecraft. The Titan IV/Centaur is a U.S. Air Force
	launch vehicle, and launch operations were managed by the
	45th Space Wing

	Date Published: 2009-09-30 09:57:46
	Identifier: KSC-KSC-97PC-1546
	Item Size: 208458
	Media Type: image

	# Topics
	http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/deta...
	What -- Saturn
	What -- Titan
	What -- Cassini
	What -- Huygens Probe
	What -- Venus
	What -- Earth
	Where -- Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
	Where -- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

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