Cassini at Saturn: Huygens Results

David M. Harland

Aug. 2007 · Springer Science & Business Media

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Cassini At Saturn – Huygens Results brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. Cassini entered orbit around Saturn June 2004 so this update includes 8 months of scientific data available for review, including the most spectacular images of Saturn, its rings and satellites ever obtained by a space mission. As the Cassini spacecraft approached its destination in spring 2004, the quality of the images already being returned by the spacecraft clearly demonstrated the spectacular nature of the close-range views that will be obtained. The book contains a 16-page colour section, comprising a carefully chosen selection of the most stunning images to be released during the spacecraft’s initial period of operation.

The Huygens craft, released by Cassini, parachuted through the clouds of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, in January 2005. David Harland tells the exciting story of the this craft’s journey to the surface of one of the most enigmatic bodies on the Solar System, the only moon to have a dense atmosphere and possibly lakes of liquid gas at -190oC on its surface. Titan is considered to be an early Earth in deep freeze, possibly with the building blocks of life in its atmosphere. There will undoubtedly be enormous interest in the first results and images of Titan’s surface, and this book is the first incisive summary of this groundbreaking material.

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Saturn, the ‘ringed planet’, was first inspected close-up by NASA’s Pioneer 11 space probe in 1979. The two Voyager spacecraft followed up in 1980 and in 1981, but as ‘fly-bys’ these craft had only a limited time to study the planet, its rings and its many moons. Now, after a seven-year interplanetary voyage, the Cassini-Huygens mission, which is a joint venture by NASA and Europe, is due to enter orbit around Saturn in July 2004 to make an in depth survey. In December it will release the Huygens probe, which will dive into the clouds of Saturn’s largest and most enigmatic moon, Titan, and land on its surface, a month later.

The author’s highly successful first book on this topic, ‘MISSION TO SATURN – Cassini and the Huygens probe’ presented a review of our state of knowledge and looked forward to the arrival of the new spacecraft. Published in September 2002, this book has sold to date 1,090 copies worldwide (726 USA, 364 ROW).