Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn & Titan
Launched from Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 15, 1997, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft reached the Saturnian region in July 2004. Cassini-Huygens is an international collaboration between three space agencies. Seventeen nations contributed to building the spacecraft. The Cassini orbiter was built and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Huygens probe was built by the European Space Agency. The Italian Space Agency provided Cassini's high-gain communication antenna.

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Cassini Jupiter Portrait Photo courtesy of CICLOPS This true color mosaic of Jupiter was constructed from 27 images taken by the narrow angle camera onboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft on December 29, 2000, during its closest approach to the giant planet at a distance of approximately 10 million kilometers (6.2 million miles).

Bold Saturn Photo courtesy of JPL Saturn's atmosphere is prominently shown with the rings emerging from behind the planet at upper right. The two moons are Mimas and Enceladus. This image was taken on August 8, 2004, with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera in red, green, and blue filters. This image was taken 8.5 million kilometers (5.3 million miles) from Saturn. Contrast has been enhanced to aid visibility.

Pretty in Pink Photo courtesy of JPL Saturn and its rings are prominently shown in this color image, along with three of Saturn's smaller moons. From left to right, they are Prometheus, Pandora and Janus. This image was taken on June 18, 2004, with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera 8.2 million kilometers (5.1 million miles) from Saturn. It was created using the red, green, and blue filters. Contrast has been enhanced to aid visibility.

Ringscape in Color Photo courtesy of CICLOPS/Space Science Institute Nine days before it entered orbit, Cassini spacecraft captured this exquisite natural color view of Saturn's rings. The images that make up this composition were obtained from Cassini's vantage point beneath the ring plane with the narrow angle camera on June 21, 2004, at a distance of 6.4 million kilometers (4 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 38 kilometers (23 miles) per pixel.

Rings and More Rings Photo courtesy of CICLOPS/Space Science Institute This dramatic view of Saturn's rings draped by the shadow of Saturn, shows brightness variations that correspond to differences in the concentration of the ring particles as they orbit the planet. The F ring, the outermost ring shown here, displays several knot-like features near the left side of the image. The image was taken in visible light by the Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera on July 3, 2004, from a distance of 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Saturn, at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of about 108 degrees. The image scale is 87 kilometers (54 miles) per pixel.

Titan's Purple Haze Photo courtesy of CICLOPS/Space Science Institute Encircled in purple stratospheric haze, Titan appears as a softly glowing sphere in this colorized image taken one day after Cassini's first flyby of that moon. This image shows two thin haze layers. The outer haze layer is detached and appears to float high in the atmosphere. Because of its thinness, the high haze layer is best seen at the moon's limb.