Liftoff Videos

Every mission, with the videos that tell it

Cassini

Saturn system

Cassini reached Saturn in 2004, carried the Huygens probe to a landing on Titan, and studied the planet, its rings and its moons for 13 years. On 15 September 2017 NASA ended the mission by flying the spacecraft into Saturn after 22 dives between the planet and its rings.

What happened

  1. 15 October 1997

    Launch

    Cassini left Earth to begin a seven-year trip to Saturn.

    Watch this moment · 0:42

  2. 2004

    Arrival at Saturn

    Cassini reached Saturn after the seven-year journey, and began a tour of the planet that lasted 13 years.

    Watch this moment · 0:18

  3. Titanapproximately

    The Huygens probe

    Cassini released the Huygens probe, which parachuted through Titan's smog and sent back pictures of riverbeds. Video 57 calls it the first touchdown on an alien moon.

    Watch this moment · 0:18

  4. Enceladusapproximately

    The geysers

    Cassini found geysers of salt water shooting from the south pole of Enceladus, whose shell hides an ocean. It flew through the plumes several times and detected promising molecules, but its instruments were not designed to look for life.

    Watch this moment · 2:01

  5. April 2017approximately

    The Grand Finale begins

    A last pass by Titan pulled Cassini inward for the first of 22 dives between Saturn and its rings, giving a view of the cloud tops and the rings from the inside.

    Watch this moment · 0:20

  6. 15 September 2017

    The final plunge

    Radio signals kept holding as Cassini descended into Saturn's atmosphere. Controllers at JPL were congratulated on the mission as the signal ended.

    Watch this moment · 0:09
Play video: Cassini’s Grand Finale: 22 Dives Between Saturn and Its Rings, 3:40

Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute / Public domain (US government work)

Key facts
VehicleCassini
Mission nameCassini
Launch siteCape Canaveral SLC-40
Crew size0
Duration20 years
OutcomeSuccess

Videos about this mission

The videos, in date order

Drag, zoom or press play to watch them on this page.

  1. Cassini’s Grand Finale: 22 Dives Between Saturn and Its Rings

    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

  2. Cassini’s Grand Finale: Final Dive Into Saturn After 20 Years

    The New York Times

  3. Cassini’s Final Plunge into Saturn: Mission Control Highlights

    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Play video: Cassini’s Final Plunge into Saturn: Mission Control Highlights

Cassini’s Final Plunge into Saturn: Mission Control Highlights

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Duration 2:41

Watch video

Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.

A mission by NASA, ESA and Italy

Cassini carried the Huygens probe, which was built by ESA. NASA's video 70 describes the mission from launch to the end, and video 57 follows its highlights: Saturn's rings resolved into grooves, gaps and braids, and the north polar hexagon storm.

The Grand Finale

Cassini made 22 dives between Saturn and its innermost ring. These gave it close views of the cloud tops and the rings. It was low on fuel, and video 57 explains the reason for ending the mission: to keep Titan's lakes and Enceladus's ocean free of any microbes carried from Earth, Cassini had to be destroyed.

On the last dive the spacecraft was travelling at over 70,000 miles an hour, as video 57 puts it. It sent data until the end, and the radio signal ended as the atmosphere took the spacecraft.

What came next

Cassini left open the question it could not answer: whether Enceladus's ocean holds life. A future spacecraft will be needed to ask it. Video 71 quotes speakers describing the end of the mission as a beginning, because the data are still being studied.

Questions and answers

  1. Why was Cassini sent into Saturn?

    Its fuel was almost gone. NASA ended the mission in Saturn's atmosphere so that the spacecraft could not later crash into Titan or Enceladus and contaminate them.

  2. What was the Huygens probe?

    A probe carried by Cassini that landed on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, and sent back images of its surface.

  3. What was the Grand Finale?

    The last phase of the mission: 22 dives between Saturn and its rings, ending with a final plunge into the planet on 15 September 2017.

  4. What did Cassini find at Enceladus?

    Geysers of salt water from the south pole, and an ocean under the ice shell. Cassini detected promising molecules, but could not look for life.

  5. How long was Cassini at Saturn?

    13 years, from 2004 to 2017.

Sources: The facts and written text on this page come from the 3 videos on this page, by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, The New York Times.