Cassini-Huygens: Researching Saturn's Moons & Rings

Cassini-Huygens is a joint project involving NASA, the European Space Agency, the Italian Space Agency, and scientists from 17 nations; Cassini will monitor Saturn's rings and atmosphere for at least four years and make detailed observations of many of Saturn's satellites (Freedman, 307). One instrument on Cassini that has already made new discoveries is the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer. On its way to Saturn it flew by Venus and Jupiter taking pictures of both planets. Cassini-Huygens entered its orbit around Saturn seven years after its launch in 1997. Since then it has changed previous ideas about the planet and added to our knowledge of its moons, especially Titan. Near the end of 2004 Huygens, the probe, was released by Cassini to land on Saturn's moon Titan to collect data on its atmosphere and surface.

The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) identifies the chemical composition of the surfaces, atmospheres, and rings of Saturn and its moons by measuring colors of visible light and infrared energy given off by them (VIMS Team). Not only does VIMS have a larger color range than our eyes, but it can also determine differences in wavelengths of light easier than our eyes by using a mirror that acts like a prism. By studying precisely the wavelengths where the atmosphere absorbs, reflects, and emits, VIMS will be able to determine the composition of Saturn's atmosphere (VIMS Team). VIMS will also be used to help determine the composition of the icy moons of Saturn. VIMS has already helped to determine the composition of Saturn's rings.

Although the flyby of Venus did not add to our knowledge of the planet it did allow for VIMS to be tested and fixed. On the first flyby it did not take any photos, but on the second flyby it took a few. The images taken of Venus revealed a large quantity of light leaking into the instrument and a software patch was sent to the spacecraft to correct this problem (VIMS Team).