Cassini at Saturn

Cassini at Saturn Huygens Results brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. Cassini entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. Here the author reports 8 months of scientific data available for review, including the most spectacular images of Saturn, its rings and satellites ever obtained by a space mission. The book contains a 16-page colour section, with a selection of the most stunning early images. The Huygens craft will be released by Cassini in December 2004 and should parachute through the clouds of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in January 2005. David Harland tells the exciting story of the this craft's journey to the surface of one of the most enigmatic bodies on the Solar System, the only moon to have a dense atmosphere and possibly lakes of liquid gas at -190ºC on its surface. Titan is considered to be an early Earth in deep freeze, possibly with the building blocks of life in its atmosphere. There is great interest in the first results and images of Titan's surface, and this book will be the first to appear with an incisive summary of this groundbreaking material.

Brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date Combines a review of previous knowledge of Saturn, its rings and moons, including Titan, with new spacecraft results in one handy volume Provides the latest and most spectacular images, which will never have appeared before in book form Gives a context to enable the reader to more easily appreciate the stream of discoveries that will be made by the Cassini-Huygens mission Tells the exciting story of the Huygens spacecraft's journey to the surface of Titan

Autorentext

Having followed spaceflight activities since 1968, David Shayler has a broad range of experience covering all aspects of human spaceflight history. In October 1982, he created Astro Info Service to focus on his space writing and research, with lectures and educational outreach activities. Early publications included the periodicals 'Orbiter' on the shuttle and 'Zenit' on Soviet activities, and a growing range of biographies on the world's space explorers. In 1990 David co-created the Midland Spaceflight Society and acted as its chairman. His first book was published in 1987 and since then he has authored over 20 titles, including 13 titles in the Praxis Space Library between 2000 and 2009. He has contributed to titles on human spaceflight, including the three editions of "Who's Who in Space" (MacMillan, 1998). Personal research has been conducted at NASA JSC in Houston, and at KSC in Florida, as well as at Rice and Clear Lake Universities and NARA archives in Texas. His research continues daily and new titles are under various stages of production, some of which are available via the AIS website. David Harland studied astronomy to degree level, and pursued a career lecturing in computer science, and academic and industrial research. In 1995, David "retired" to resume his interest in space and started to write. He has over two dozen books published to date, a majority of them with Springer/Praxis and several others under contract. These days he considers himself to be an amateur hermit and a professional space historian.

Klappentext

Cassini at Saturn - Huygens Results brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. Cassini entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. Here the author reports 8 months of scientific data available for review, including the most spectacular images of Saturn, its rings and satellites ever obtained by a space mission. The book contains a 16-page colour section, with a selection of the most stunning early images. The Huygens craft will be released by Cassini in December 2004 and should parachute through the clouds of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in January 2005. David Harland tells the exciting story of the this craft's journey to the surface of one of the most enigmatic bodies on the Solar System, the only moon to have a dense atmosphere and possibly lakes of liquid gas at -190ºC on its surface. Titan is considered to be an early Earth in deep freeze, possibly with the building blocks of life in its atmosphere. There is great interest in the first results and images of Titan's surface, and this book will be the first to appear with an incisive summary of this groundbreaking material.

Zusammenfassung

Cassini At Saturn Huygens Results brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. Cassini entered orbit around Saturn June 2004 so this update includes 8 months of scientific data available for review, including the most spectacular images of Saturn, its rings and satellites ever obtained by a space mission. As the Cassini spacecraft approached its destination in spring 2004, the quality of the images already being returned by the spacecraft clearly demonstrated the spectacular nature of the close-range views that will be obtained. The book contains a 16-page colour section, comprising a carefully chosen selection of the most stunning images to be released during the spacecraft's initial period of operation.

The Huygens craft, released by Cassini, parachuted through the clouds of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in January 2005. David Harland tells the exciting story of the this craft's journey to the surface of one of the most enigmatic bodies on the Solar System, the only moon to have a dense atmosphere and possibly lakes of liquid gas at -190ºC on its surface. Titan is considered to be an early Earth in deep freeze, possibly with the building blocks of life in its atmosphere. There will undoubtedly be enormous interest in the first results and images of Titan's surface, and this book is the first incisive summary of this groundbreaking material.

Inhalt
List of Figures.- Author's preface.- Acknowledgements.- Saturn from afar.- First close look.- Saturn revealed.- The Titans.- Cassini-Huygens.- Notes.- Acronyms.- Facts and figures.- Further reading.- Index.