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Spacecraft Prepares to Orbit Saturn and Its Moons
Pasadena, California - After a 6 1/2-year journey spanning nearly 2.2 billion miles, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is speeding toward its final rendezvous with Saturn, opening the discovery phase of one of the most ambitious scientific space missions ever attempted.
Last week, Cassini-Huygens was about 10 million miles from Saturn's underbelly, traveling at 13,320 mph. On June 30 (10:36 p.m. Eastern time), NASA controllers will fire its main engine for 96 minutes, causing the spacecraft to swing upward between two of the planet's brilliant rings, and then sweep into orbit around the planet.