About

Named after astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens, the mission was comprised of two main components: the Cassini orbiter, which explored Saturn and its rings, and the Huygens probe, which descended onto Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Launched in 1997, the spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004 and operated until 2017, providing scientists with invaluable data about the planet's atmosphere, magnetic field, and the composition of its rings. The Huygens probe successfully landed on Titan's surface in 2005, becoming the first soft landing on another planet's moon in the outer Solar System. The Cassini-Huygens mission greatly expanded our understanding of Saturn and its moons, revealing their complex and dynamic nature. The mission's findings have shaped our knowledge of planetary science and have opened up new avenues for future space exploration.