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Voyage to the Mystery Moon
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Program Overview
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NOVA follows the Cassini-Huygens mission to learn more about Saturn,
its rings, and its moons.
The program:
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recalls the first mission to Saturn in 1980 by the Voyager
spacecraft.
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notes that in 1990 NASA and the European Space Agency teamed up
to build the Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe.
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explains that because the spacecraft was so heavy, scientists
found a way to use planetary gravitational encounters to aid
Cassini's seven-year, 3.5 billion- kilometer journey to Saturn.
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reports on a communication glitch in the radio link between
Cassini and Huygens discovered after the spacecraft had been
launched.
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presents how scientists solved the problem: they slowed Cassini
down so that it would pass through the Huygens signal at a
slower rate and could receive its data.
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describes what scientists learned when the Cassini spacecraft
passed within 2,000 kilometers of Phoebe, Saturn's outermost
moon.
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recounts how scientists flew Cassini between Saturn's rings in
order to avoid damage to the spacecraft.
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details what Cassini's spectrometer revealed about the age and
composition of Saturn's rings.
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points out that Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a
nitrogen-rich atmosphere that also contains methane and
hydrogen, two key building blocks of life.
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describes some of the Huygens probe's instrumentation, including
cameras and a penetrometer to measure the force of Huygens'
impact on Titan's surface.
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reports on the probe's descent to Titan and presents what the
probe discovered about Titan's atmosphere and surface.
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compares Titan's surface to Earth's surface and notes the
processes that shaped both.
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tells that though Huygens is no longer transmitting information
about Titan, Cassini will continue sending data about Saturn and
her moons—Enceladus was recently found to be erupting ice
crystals and may be suitable for life.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program
is taped off the air.
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