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Faulty Cassini Instruments Reducing Level Of Science Data Collection
Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 13, 2005 NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully flew by Saturn's moon Titan at a distance of 2,402 kilometers (1,493 miles) on Thursday, March 31. Cassini's multiple instruments are providing new views of the haze-enshrouded world. On this recent flyby, Titan's haze was the focus of ultraviolet observations. By mapping the haze, scientists hope to learn about particle size and properties. Titan's transient clouds were also studied during the flyby. Titan's northern hemisphere was previously imaged with Cassini's radar instrument in October 2004 and February 2005. This time, Cassini's optical cameras got their best view of the same area, as did the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer. Titan is a prime target of the Cassini-Huygens mission because it is the only moon in our solar system with a thick, smoggy atmosphere. Cassini was launched over seven years ago and has traveled 3.55 billion kilometers (2.2 billion miles). All 12 of Cassini's instruments have been returning data, including tantalizing images. Recently, scientists noticed episodic interferences on the composite infrared spectrometer that were traced back to the time of orbit insertion.
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