PIA03883: Artists's Conception of Cassini Saturn Orbit Insertion


Artists’s Conception of Cassini Saturn Orbit Insertion

Caption:

This is an artists concept of Cassini during the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver, just after the main engine has begun firing. The spacecraft is moving out of the plane of the page and to the right (firing to reduce its spacecraft velocity with respect to Saturn) and has just crossed the ring plane.

The SOI maneuver, which is approximately 90 minutes long, will allow Cassini to be captured by Saturn's gravity into a five-month orbit.Cassini's close proximity to the planet after the maneuver offers a unique opportunity to observe Saturn and its rings at extremely high resolution.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Saturn Saturn Rings
System Saturn
Target Type Planet Ring
Mission Cassini-Huygens
Instrument Host Cassini Orbiter
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Artwork, Color
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2002-12-11
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03883
Identifier PIA03883