Captain's Log June 30, 2008, 20:51 MDT In late 1990, a collection of hundreds of scientists and as many engineers across the US and Europe were assembled together and given the charge to undertake a far-sighted interplanetary expedition of enormous scope and reach. The mission: Conduct a 4-year, in-depth, comprehensive scientific exploration of the Saturnian system. The Voyager flybys of Saturn in the early 1980s had revealed a dynamically evolved planetary system with a startling degree of complexity within its rings and atmosphere and recorded on the surfaces of its moons. Those early brief explorations left us with an indelible impression of the bodies and phenomena to be found around Saturn, but also a gnawing sense of untapped potential, of secrets hidden from view, of scientific riches just beyond our grasp. We came to realize that Saturn and its companions offered what no other planetary system did: The promise of witnessing processes at work today that were similar to those responsible for configuring the solar system, for producing the habitable environment on the surface of our own planet, and even similar to those active on the early Earth. It was clear: We needed to return ... to stay. The ambitious mission that would fulfill that promise became known as Cassini. It was slated to carry the most advanced instrumentation of its time and spend four years touring among Saturn's rings and moons in order to answer those pressing questions that remained after the Voyager visitations. And it did just that. Exactly four years ago to the minute as I post this Log, Cassini successfully entered into orbit and began an unprecedented comprehensive examination of the Saturn system. Four years ago tonight, we found ourselves flying in darkness over Saturn's rings at a swift 25 kilometers per second and closer to the planet and its rings than we had ever been or ever would be again in Cassini's four year tour. The images we collected during this maneuver remain the finest look we have had of the rings to date, and are still being mined by imaging scientists for the insights they hold into the workings of this great collection of icy debris for which Saturn is famed. And that was just the beginning. Over the last four years, we have traveled over a half billion kilometers around Saturn, again and again, swooping down over its moons, intently watching the intricate motions of its clouds and eddies, and darting through the atmosphere of its largest moon, Titan. What we have seen over the course of our travels has informed, moved and amazed us. Our findings at Saturn are well documented, in word and image, on the pages of this website. Leisurely amble through them, stopping on any page, clicking on any link, and you will soon be reminded just how extraordinary an adventure it has been. There is of course plenty more to come. Cassini is a robust and capable craft and will continue its work with ease. Officially, its mission has been extended for two years, during which Saturn, in its orbit around the Sun, will pass through equinox in August 2009. At that time, seen from Saturn, the Sun will pass northward through the ringplane and spring will arrive in the northern hemisphere. In concert, the ring shadows will slip from north to south, and our views of Saturn will begin to resemble those seen by Voyager 29 years earlier. For many of us, it will be a very sentimental time. To explore a planetary system very much unlike our own is an occasion like no other. It has been hard going and exhausting for sure, but in return we have been rewarded beyond all imagining. Without equivocation, we on Cassini can proudly proclaim: Mission accomplished! Carolyn Porco Cassini Imaging Team Leader CICLOPS Boulder, CO

Captain's Log:  Le Sacre du Printemps

September 21, 2009

It is a drama as ancient as the sun, as unflinching as time ... a never-ending whirl of celestial movements, scripted and precise, in a silent show of cosmic force, played out in light and shadow. more...

Captain's Log:  Gene Roddenberry Meets George Lucas

May 7, 2009

After a long several-year wait of acute anticipation and much fanfare, the new J.J. Abrams' film `Star Trek' is finally opening nationwide on Friday, May 8. more...

Captain's Log:  Celebrating Galileo

April 2, 2009

In a global re-enactment of humankind's first magnified look at the heavens 400 years ago, hundreds of thousands of telescopes across the Earth will turn this Saturday night, April 4, in unison to the night sky to gaze at the Moon and a gleaming planet Saturn. more...

Captain's Log:  The Dance of the Moon Shadows

March 23, 2009

We are almost there. Saturn and we, its companions, have journeyed together now for nearly five years, in a circumnavigation of the outer solar system. more...

Captain's Log:  A Year of Splendor

December 31, 2008

Today we conclude another year in our excursion through the Saturnian environment ... a year that brought Cassini's prime mission to successful completion and saw the start of its 2-year `Equinox' mission around the ringed planet. more...

Captain's Log:  Cassini Skeet Shoots Enceladus Again

November 1, 2008

Greetings to all you fellow travelers! We on Cassini are very happy to report that we've just successfully put behind us one more major milestone in this remarkable adventure: a very close flyby of the icy moon Enceladus. more...

Captain's Log:  Diving Over Enceladus

March 26, 2008

Our run of daring tactical maneuvers over the surface of Enceladus to uncover as much as we can about this strange beast began two weeks ago, and today we learn what came of that encounter. more...

Captain's Log:  Holiday Greetings 2007

December 24, 2007

So another year around Saturn is coming to a close, and by anyone's measure it has been a momentous time of adventure and revelation. more...

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