Current Space Missions

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Chapter 1

• Current Space Missions

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Cassini-Huygens

• Website http//saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/
• Launch date October 1997
• Mission This is a joint mission between NASA and
  the European Space Agency (ESA). NASAs Cassini
  spacecraft will orbit Saturn for four years,
  making an extensive survey of the planet and its
  moons. The ESA Huygens probes mission was to
  land on the surface of Titan, Saturns mysterious
  and largest moon. Titan is the only moon in our
  solar system to have an atmosphere.

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Cassini-Huygens

• Accomplishments
• Cassini The spacecraft arrived in Saturn in July
  2004 and became the first to orbit Saturn. It has
  provided the most detailed images ever of Saturn,
  its rings and moons.
• Huygens The Huygens probe landed on Titan on
  January 14th. It is the first to land on a world
  in the outer Solar System.

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Cassini-Huygens

• Notables
• The spacecraft made four gravity-assist swing-by
  maneuvers after it left Earth in order to reach
  Saturn. Two of these were around Venus while the
  others were around Earth and Jupiter. As a form
  of reference, the swing-bys provided the
  equivalent of 75 tons of rocket fuel (The
  spacecraft actually uses plutonium for fuel).

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Cassini-Huygens

• Update Scientists reported yesterday that they
  believed Huygens landed on mud.
• Current location Huygens rests frozen at -180
  degrees Celsius on Titan's landscape. Cassini
  continues to orbit Saturn.

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Spirit and Opportunity Rovers

• Website http//marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/
• Launch date June and July 2003 respectively.
• Arrival date Both rovers landed on opposite
  sides of Mars in January 2004. They used a
  combination of parachutes, retro-rockets and
  air-bags to perform the landing.

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Spirit and Opportunity Rovers

• Mission
• The twin rovers are part of NASAs Mars
  Exploration Program whose main objective is to
  determine whether currently or in the past there
  has been life on Mars. Spirits and Opportunitys
  main objective is to search for clues of past
  water activity on Mars. Also they will make
  geological and environmental studies of Mars.
• The rovers are equipped with various cameras,
  spectrometers (used for analyzing rock
  properties), a powerful grinder called a Rock
  Abrasion Tool (RAT), and a magnet.

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Spirit and Opportunity Rovers

• Accomplishments
• Rovers have discovered rocks that only a
  significant amount of liquid water could have
  created. It is now believed that Mars had seas,
  and perhaps oceans, in the past.
• Rovers have returned over 60,000 images of Mars
• 360 degree view
• Plains
• Burns cliff
• Hills

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Spirit and Opportunity Rovers

• Notables
• Rovers were designed to last 90 days but after a
  year both are still going strong. Spirit has
  journeyed about 2 and a half miles from its
  landing site.
• Current location Spirit is in the Columbia
  Hills. Opportunity is on the plains of the
  Meriadini Planum.

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Mars Orbiters

• Mars Global Surveyor - Arrived in Mars in
  September 1997 and performed a basic overview of
  Mars.
• Mars Odyssey Arrived in October 2001 and
  continued Surveyors mapping mission on Mars.

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Mars Orbiters

• Mars Express Orbiter and Beagle 2 Lander
• Arrived in Mars in December 2003
• ESA mission
• Beagle 2 was lost upon trying to land on Mars