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Cassini's Timeline Poster

This illustrated timeline features milestones in the journey of NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Scroll up to launch Cassini's voyage.
Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Published: October 15, 2012

This illustrated timeline features milestones in the journey of NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

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One of the glittering trails caused by small objects punching through Saturn's F ring is highlighted in this movie from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. These trails show how the F ring, the outermost of...
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One of the glittering trails caused by small objects punching through Saturn's F ring is highlighted in this movie from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Glittering Trail in Saturn's F Ring
Radio waves produced near the poles of Saturn have been monitored by Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument (RPWS) since 2003. A team of European scientists have analysed several years ...
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Artist concept depicting the Cassini spacecraft measuring radio waves between Saturn and the sun
Saturn's Radio Rotation
This picture illustrates the Huygens probe descent profile, beginning with the initial encounter with the Titan atmosphere and subsequent deceleration. As the probe slows, a small parachute is rele...
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Huygens Descent
Huygens Descent
+ View related feature story + View unlabeled image Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spotted two features shaped like the 1980s video game icon "Pac-Man" on moons of Saturn. One wa...
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temperatures comparison between Mimas and Tethys
A Pair of 'Pac-Men'
For an Earth observer on May 3, 2005, the Cassini spacecraft appeared to pass behind the rings, then Saturn, then the rings again (the red line). The discovered harmonic structure was found on both...
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Illustration of the harmonic structure found in various parts of Saturn's rings
Saturn's Ring Rhythm #2
+ Unlabeled version Scientists have discovered a wave pattern, or oscillation, in Saturn's atmosphere only visible from Earth every 15 years. The pattern ripples back and forth like a wave withi...
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Two different phases of temperature on Saturn
Saturn's Infrared Temperature Snapshot (Labeled)
This graphic shows Cassini's final plunge toward Saturn from a side view. 
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Cassini final plunge graphic
Cassini's Final Plunge (Side View)
MOPITT's monthly average of global concentrations of tropospheric carbon monoxide at an altitude of about 12,000 feet, in April 2000 (left) and April 2014.
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Map of global carbon monoxide concentrations
Mapping Carbon Monoxide
The lower panel is a mass spectrum that shows the chemical constituents sampled in Enceladus' plume by Cassini's Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer during its fly-through of the plume on Mar. 12, 20...
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This mass spectrum shows the chemical constituents sampled in Enceladus' plume
Enceladus Plume Neutral Mass Spectrum Description
On July 11, 2005, the Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph observed the star Bellatrix as it passed behind Enceladus, as seen from the spacecraft. The starlight was observed to dim when it got ...
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On July 11, 2005, the Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph observed the star Bellatrix as it passed behind Enceladus, as seen from the spacecraft.
Enceladus Atmosphere Not Global
Based on observations from several NASA missions, the map details the path of the Moon’s shadow as it crosses the contiguous U.S. during the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and total sol...
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A map shows the 48 contiguous U.S. states with two dark bands running across it. One band, labeled "Annular Solar Eclipse", crosses states from Oregon to Texas. The other band, labeled "Total Solar Eclipse", crosses states from Texas to Maine.
NASA's 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipse Map
This computer-generated animation shows all of Cassini's orbits - affectionaly called the "ball of yarn" by mission planners.
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A computer-generated representation of all Cassini's Saturn orbits - affection called the "ball of yarn" by mission planners.
The Ball of Yarn: Cassini's Orbits
+ See Viewing Options This animation glides along the shoreline of Ontario Lacus, the largest lake on the southern hemisphere of Saturn’s moon Titan. It is based on overlapping radar images obta...
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Artist's concept of a postcard for Ontario Lacus
See Beautiful Ontario Lacus
The release of the Huygens probe on Dec. 25, 2004 set the festive tone of holiday seasons for the duration of the misison.
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Collection of Saturn-themed holiday illustrations
Happy Holidays
This graphic illustrates how scientists on NASA's Cassini mission think water interacts with rock at the bottom of the ocean of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, producing hydrogen gas (H2). 
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Illustrated graphic showing what an under ice ocean on Enceladus might look like.
Enceladus Hydrothermal Activity
This visual reveals how the magnetic field associated with the Psyche spacecraft distorts the ambient magnetic field to be measured.
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In this data visualization magnetic fields are shown in lines bending around the spacecraft. The more intense the magnetic energy, the redder the color. Most intensity is centered around the spacecraft body.
Magnetic Field of the Psyche Spacecraft Immersed in the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF)
Until recently, Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus was thought to be cold and dead. But close observations by the Cassini spacecraft have revealed dramatic features and made this frozen world a new targe...
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Artwork for the feature Saturns Moons Explorer -- Enceladus
Saturn Moons Explorer -- Enceladus
Logo for "Backstage Pass to Iapetus" movie
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Backstage Pass to Iapetus
Backstage Pass to Iapetus
+ View Image Without Labels This false-color image of Saturn's main rings was made by combining data from multiple star occultations using the Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph. During occ...
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A false-color image of Saturn's main rings with labels
Mapping Clumps in Saturn's Rings (Annotated)
Artist’s version of a star chart, complete with arrows to help locate Saturn. Credit: NASA/JPL
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Star chart with Saturn
Sky Chart
The Cassini mission entered its second extended mission, called the Cassini Solstice Mission, in September 2010. This extension enables scientists to study seasonal and other long-term weather chan...
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Artwork depicting the second extended mission for Cassini, called the "Solstice Mission."
Cassini Solstice Mission
Learning what Jupiter is made of and how it works will tell us more about the rest of the solar system and our own planet, Earth.
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Infographic comparing Jupiter and Earth.
How Do Jupiter and Earth Compare
Twenty-eight years before Cassini-Huygens arrived at Saturn, artist Ken Hodges painted this vision of a possible mission to explore Saturn and the giant moon Titan for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laborat...
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Painting of spacecraft and lander exploring Saturn and Titan.
Titan Saturn Mission Artwork (1976)
+ Unannotated version Almost all of the hydrocarbon seas and lakes on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan cluster around the north pole, as can be seen in this mosaic from NASA's Cassini mission....
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This mosaic, made from near-infrared images of Titan obtained by Cassini's imaging science subsystem, shows a view from the north pole (upper middle of mosaic) down to near the equator at the bottom.
Titan's North: The Big Picture -- Annotated
+ Unannotated version A dense network of small rivers or swampy areas appears to connect some of the seas on Saturn's moon Titan, as seen in this comparison of data of the same area from two ins...
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Titan Wetlands
Titan Wetlands (Annotated)

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