In Saturn’s Orbit
A great deal of what we know about the planet today is due to the American space probes Voyager in 1980-81. In July 2004 the probe Cassini-Huygens went into Saturn’s orbit. The orbital probe Cassini will carry out a four-year survey of the planet and its moons, and the landing craft Huygens will be discharged in December 2004 in order to investigate Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. |
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| Facts about Saturn |
 We have been aware of the planet since prehistoric time. The planet is not as easy to observe from the Earth as Jupiter. It is smaller and lies twice as far away as Jupiter. It was first observed by Galileo using a telescope in 1610, but he was confused by the rings round it. |
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| Previous space probes |
 Space probes are unmanned spacecrafts with scientific equipment on board. They will either have to pass, go into orbit or land on a celestial body in order to return data to the Earth. |
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| Cassini-Huygens towards Saturn |
 After a seven-year journey through the solar system the probe Cassini-Huygens has entered the orbit round Saturn. The orbital probe Cassini has begun a four-year survey of the planet and the planet’s moons. |
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