Cassini-Huygens

Saturn · space exploration · moons

Joint space mission. Cassini-Huygens was built by three space agencies working together: NASA from the United States, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Italy's space agency (ASI).

Saturn explorer. The spacecraft orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017, studying the planet's beautiful rings and many moons. It was the first spacecraft ever to get into orbit around Saturn.

Two crafts in one. The mission had two parts: NASA's Cassini probe that stayed in orbit, and ESA's Huygens lander that descended to Saturn's biggest moon, Titan.

Landing on Titan. Huygens parachuted down to Titan and became the first spacecraft to land on a moon in the outer solar system. Scientists were amazed by what they discovered about this giant, mysterious moon.

Named after astronomers. The spacecraft were named after Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens, two brilliant astronomers from history who studied Saturn and its moons with early telescopes.