The Ring-Moon Systems Node’s Cassini Home Page

Science Overview

Cassini was a NASA spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. The science output of the mission is summarized in Volumne 1 of the Cassini Mission’s final report to NASA (click here) if you want the entire 1759 pages; 192 MB).

Section 3 of the report, covering Science Mission Results, is organized as a series of stand-alone documents:

• Discipline Science Results
  • Huygens Probe
  • Icy Satellites
  • Magnetospheres and Plasma Science (MAPS)
  • Rings
  • Saturn
  • Titan
• Instrument Science Results - Optical Remote Sensing
  • Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS)
  • Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
  • Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS)
  • Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS)
• Instrument Science Results - Fields, Particles, and Waves Sensing
  • Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS)
  • Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA)
  • Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS)
  • Magnetometer (MAG)
  • Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI)
  • Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS)
• Instrument Science Results - Microwave Remote Sensing
  • Titan Radar Mapper (RADAR)
  • Radio Science Subsystem (RSS)
• Attachments
  • Glossary of Acronyms
  • References & Bibliographies
  • Cassini Science Bibliographies

Archive Overview

Because Cassini was a multidisciplinary mission, many Cassini data sets can be obtained from more than one PDS Node.

• The Atmospheres Node holds an extensive body of documentation from the mission. If you are new to the Cassini data sets, START HERE! You can also download CIRS, UVIS, RSS, and Huygens Probe data from the Atmospheres Node.

• The Plasma/Particle Interactions (PPI) Node distributes the Magnetospheric and Plasma Science (MAPS) data sets: CAPS, INMS, MAG, MIMI, RPWS.

• The Small Bodies Node distributes CDA data.

• The Cartography and Imaging Node distributes ISS, VIMS, and RADAR data. It also provides a Search Tool for ISS and VIMS products.

• The Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) Node maintains the complete set of SPICE kernels for the Cassini mission. Use their selection tool to obtain kernels for the time period you need.

• The Ring-Moon Systems Node curates CIRS, ISS, UVIS, and VIMS data sets, plus RSS occultation data. We provide additional search tools, calibrated and derived products, browse products, and metadata.

RMS Node Data and Services

• Use OPUS to search for specific Cassini data products using a wide range of criteria including enhanced geometric metadata produced at the node. The enhanced geometric metadata includes information appropriate to planet and satellite searches as well as enhanced ring geometry.

  • Supports ISS (raw and calibrated), UVIS, VIMS, and CIRS (limited).

  • Supports derived occultation profiles from UVIS, VIMS, and RSS.

  • Supports all scientific disciplines, including atmospheres and geoscience, in addition to ring science.

  • Search results include data files, tables of associated metadata, and browse products. Selected data files can be bundled as tar.gz files for easy downloading.

• Use Viewmaster to explore the PDS3 delivery volumes directly. Products are generally in chronological order.

  • CIRS: 2000-2009 and 2010-2017.

  • ISS: calibration data, cruise and Jupiter images, and Saturn images.

  • UVIS: raw data and derived ring occultation profiles.

  • VIMS: raw data and derived ring occultation profiles.

  • RSS: derived ring occultation profiles.

• Cassini’s Master Schedule (14 MB) is the “as-planned” listing of observations spanning the entire Saturn tour. It contains 63,022 rows and may be downloaded and sliced and diced to identify observations of interest.

  • A tab-delimited text version has 99,848 rows, including everything in the Master Schedule, plus additional “milestone” events such as closest approach times and ring plane crossings.
    
    

• Additional enhanced and derived products are still in development. As they become available, we will announce them on our home page, through the PDS Subscription Service, and through announcements in PEN.

More Info

The tabs associated with this page describe the Cassini instruments and data sets that we support, provide access to the data, and link to sites within and outside the PDS that are likely to be of use.

• Enhanced Cassini Support
  • Links to supplemental information and Users Guides developed to improve the search and ease of use of Cassini data.
• Instruments and Data - Information and data by instrument.
  • CIRS: calibrated occultations & spectra
  • ISS: raw & calibrated images plus calibration files
  • RSS: occultations. Raw RSS data may be obtained from the PDS Atmospheres Node.
  • UVIS: raw images, occultations & spectra, plus calibration files.
  • VIMS: raw images, occultations & spectra, plus calibration files.
• Cassini Links - Links web pages and resources outside the Ring-Moon Systems Node.