Cassini is Saturn's version of the Galileo probe, and will go into orbit around Saturn to study the planet, moons and rings. Huygens is a European-made probe, currently riding piggyback on Cassini, which will attempt to land on Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, and the only moon in the Solar system with a worthwhile atmosphere.
Unlike Galileo, Cassini managed to open its high-gain antenna, so there should be pictures galore. It's already taken a few, like this view from way off to one side of Saturn, where you can see the shadow the planet casts across the rings - impossible to see from Earth.
Exciting as the current Mars stuff is, Cassini-Huygens is the one that's got me REALLY interested.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2004-01-06 11:03 (UTC)Cassini is Saturn's version of the Galileo probe, and will go into orbit around Saturn to study the planet, moons and rings. Huygens is a European-made probe, currently riding piggyback on Cassini, which will attempt to land on Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, and the only moon in the Solar system with a worthwhile atmosphere.
Unlike Galileo, Cassini managed to open its high-gain antenna, so there should be pictures galore. It's already taken a few, like this view from way off to one side of Saturn, where you can see the shadow the planet casts across the rings - impossible to see from Earth.
Exciting as the current Mars stuff is, Cassini-Huygens is the one that's got me REALLY interested.