A marvellous joint project between ESA and NASA. So far, most of the images obtained have been b&w, but the first colour photograph was released today.
It is extraordinary how well this complex project seems, so far, to have performed. Having been launched in 1997 and the Cassini spacecraft having been in orbit around Saturn since July last year, with mid-course manoeuvres required in April 1998 and June 1999 around Venus, around Earth in August 1999 and finally around Jupiter in December 2000, there have been many occasions when the mission could have failed. The successful landing of the probe on Titan and even more the apparently successful gathering of large amounts of data during the process, was no foregone conclusion, as the experience of the under-funded Beagle 2 last year demonstrates. Well done to all those involved in the Cassini-Huygens project!
For more photographs of Saturn taken by the Cassini mission click here.
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