*EPF409 07/01/2004
Text: Cassini Enters Saturn's Orbit
(Spacecraft passes through rings to begin four-year orbit) (920)

After more than 900 million miles and almost seven years in flight, the Cassini-Huygens space mission has successfully entered orbit around Saturn, passing deftly through the rings of the gaseous planet on June 30.

Within hours, the spacecraft had already sent back new images of the rings, the planet's most distinguishing feature. The images are the first data gathered on what will be a four-year tour of the planet for Cassini-Huygens, an internationally cooperative mission backed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

"It feels awfully good to be in orbit around the lord of the rings," said Dr. Charles Elachi, director of the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Cassini's home base. "This is the result of 22 years of effort, of commitment, of ingenuity, and that's what exploration is all about."

Saturn and its ring system form a miniature model of the solar system in its early formative stages, according to a NASA press release. Learning more about the rings and the numerous moons will help broaden science's understanding of the universe.

Important milestones still lie ahead for the spacecraft. In January 2005, the Huygens probe now riding on board Cassini is set to descend to the Saturn moon Titan.

Further information on the mission is available at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html

Following is the text of the NASA press release:

(begin text)

Cassini Spacecraft Arrives at Saturn
June 30, 2004

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109
TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011

The international Cassini-Huygens mission has successfully entered orbit around Saturn. At 9:12 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, flight controllers received confirmation that Cassini had completed the engine burn needed to place the spacecraft into the correct orbit. This begins a four-year study of the giant planet, its majestic rings and 31 known moons.

"This is a tribute to the team at NASA and our partners at the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, to accomplish this feat taking place 934 million miles [1.5 billion kilometers] away from Earth," said Dr. Ed Weiler, associate administrator for space science at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. "What Cassini-Huygens will reveal during its tour of Saturn and its many moons, including Titan, will astonish scientists and the public. Everyone is invited to come along for the ride and see all this as it is happening. It truly is a voyage of discovery."

Members of the Cassini-Huygens mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., broke into cheers and high-fives as NASA's Deep Space Network confirmed receipt of the signal indicating successful entry into orbit.

"We didn't expect anything less and couldn't have asked for anything more from the spacecraft and the team," said Robert T. Mitchell, program manager for the Cassini-Huygens mission at JPL. "This speaks volumes to the tremendous team that made it all happen."

Dr. Charles Elachi, JPL director and team leader on the radar instrument onboard Cassini, said, "It feels awfully good to be in orbit around the lord of the rings. This is the result of 22 years of effort, of commitment, of ingenuity, and that's what exploration is all about."

The mission will face another dramatic challenge in December, when the spacecraft will release the piggybacked Huygens probe - provided by the European Space Agency - which will plunge through the hazy atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

"This was America's night. This was NASA doing it right," said Dr. David Southwood, director of scientific programs for the European Space Agency. "They really gave those of us in Europe a challenge. We've got six months to go until we land on Titan. We're just praying that everything will go as well."

Julie Webster, Cassini-Huygens spacecraft team chief, said, "The spacecraft has been an incredible joy to fly. We stand on the shoulders of people who had 40 years of experience building and designing spacecraft."

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It is the second largest planet in our solar system, after Jupiter. The planet and ring system serve as a miniature model of the disc of gas and dust surrounding our early Sun that eventually formed the planets. Detailed knowledge of the dynamics of interactions among Saturn's elaborate rings and numerous moons will provide valuable data for understanding how each of the solar system's planets evolved.

Cassini traveled nearly 3.5 billion kilometers (2.2 billion miles) to reach Saturn after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Oct. 15, 1997. During Cassini's four-year mission, it will execute 52 close encounters with seven of Saturn's 31 known moons.

The first images are expected to return Thursday morning. Science measurements gathered Wednesday are the closest ever obtained of Saturn. Those measurements may reveal details of the gravitational and magnetic fields that tell scientists about Saturn's interior.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.

For the latest images and more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini .

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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