MAJOR EVENTS
- 1655 MAR 25
Titan dicovered - 1979 SEP 02
First ever close-up picture taken - 1997 OCT 15
Cassini-Huygens launches - 2004 MAY 20
Best resolution picture to-date - 2004 JUL 01
Cassini-Huygens reaches Saturn - 2005 JAN 14
Huygens lands on Titan - 2010 FEB 03
NASA extends mission - 2017 to Come
Cassini's exploration ends - 2017 and Beyond
Future missions
CASSINI-HUYGENS REACHES SATURN
JULY 1, 2004. The Saturn Orbit Insertion burn was successfully executed. At 7:11 p.m. PDT (10:11 p.m. EDT), Cassini crossed the ring plane between Saturn's F and G rings. Its antenna was oriented forward acting as a shield against small ring particles. At 7:36 p.m. PDT (10:36 p.m. EDT), the spacecraft began a critical 96-minute main engine burn to cut its velocity by 626 meters per second and permit a 0.02 x 9 million kilometer Saturn orbit.
