Planets and Moons ID: 12709

Cassini's Infrared Saturn

Released on September 12, 2017

The Cassini-Huygens mission arrived at Saturn in 2004, beginning an epic thirteen-year tour of the ringed planet and its many moons. Cassini and its companion probe, Huygens, were an international collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Cassini carried an impressive array of scientific instruments, including the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) built at Goddard Space Flight Center. By studying the Saturn system in heat radiation, CIRS observed hot spots in a giant Saturn storm, discovered a new hydrocarbon in Titan's smoggy atmosphere, found unexpected surface heating on Mimas and Tethys, and even detected evidence of a liquid water ocean under the icy shell of Enceladus. This video explores Cassini CIRS' greatest hits, as told by instrument team members Michael Flasar, Conor Nixon, and Carrie Anderson. Learn more about the CIRS instrument and team.

Opening the Cassini CIRS engineering model inside its clean tent at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. This model is a twin of the CIRS instrument on the Cassini spacecraft.

The CIRS computer station, where instrument commands are tested before they are sent to JPL for transmission to the Cassini spacecraft.

Source Material

For More Information

NASA.gov

Credits

Michael Flasar (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Conor Nixon (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Carrie Anderson (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Producer
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Editor
Elizabeth Zubritsky (ADNET): Science Writer
Marcia Segura (University of Maryland): Project Support
Rob Andreoli (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Videographer
John Caldwell (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Videographer
Katrina Jackson (USRA): Videographer
Michael Lentz (USRA): Animator
Chris Smith (SLAC): Animator
Chris Meaney (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Animator
Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Data Visualizer
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Project Support

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center