Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn

The international Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997 and had a marathon 13-year 2-billion mile journey to the distant planet Saturn. The 23-foot tall, 14-foot wide, 6-ton spacecraft is the largest most sophisticated outer planet spacecraft ever built, and is in its thirteenth year of operation in orbit around the planet Saturn. Cassini-Huygens has been returning extraordinary data about the entire Saturn system: the spectacular rings; the numerous icy satellites with a variety of unique surface features; the giant planet itself; a huge magnetosphere teeming with particles that interact with the rings and moons; and the intriguing moon Titan, which is slightly larger than the planet Mercury, and whose hazy atmosphere is denser than that of Earth. This talk will be a quick overview of the Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn, with a summary of the top science returns of its first 13 years in orbit, but really focus on an exciting preview of the upcoming end of mission on September 15, 2017.

Trina recently went on the radio to talk about the Cassini Mission. Please find the audio and article at https://www.scpr.org/news/2017/07/25/74094/what-cassini-saw-on-titan-dunes-of-the-arabian-des/

Trina is an astronomer at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she started her career with a bang - working on the Voyager Neptune Encounter in August of 1989. A few years ago she accepted the position of Cassini Science Planning and Sequencing Team Deputy, the team that coordinates all the science and uplinks the final sequences to Cassini, and has focused on the exciting end of mission planning. Trina received her Bachelor's degree in Physics from CSUN and her master's degree in Astronomy from San Diego State University. Trina has received numerous awards, including a NASA medal for Exceptional Service, and she is an active public speaker for NASA, invited to give many talks around the nation.