Cassini–Huygens
Mission overview
Cassini–Huygens orbited Saturn for 13 years and landed the Huygens probe on Titan.
Mission data
Identity and engineering data from Wikidata (type-verified match · Q165585) · launch date 1997-10-15 confirmed
| Launch mass | 5,712 kg | Wikidata · catalogued |
Full field-level provenance
- Launch mass: Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) — community-curated structured knowledge base · Wikidata · wdt · P2067 · catalogued value · retrieved 2026-07-11
Sourced from Wikidata (community-maintained structured data, whose statements link to their own citations where provided); each value carries its Wikidata QID. A field with conflicting Wikidata values is omitted. Launch date is used only to cross-check the catalogue, never to override it. Fields Wikidata did not provide, or where conflicting values exist, are omitted, never invented.
Primary-source verification
Committed mission facts cross-checked against the official NASA primary source — NASA Science — Cassini.
| Launch date | 1997-10-15 | Confirmed by primary |
| Launch mass | 5,712 kg | Not corroborated |
Verified by corroboration against the official agency document: a launch date is “Confirmed by primary” only when the page literally states it; a launch mass only when the page states a figure equal to it within catalogue rounding (±0.5%). Source precedence is primary agency > peer-reviewed > official mission page > structured secondary > Wikidata; a primary source outranks Wikidata but no engineering value is transcribed from the page — an uncorroborated value is kept as its original (secondary) source, never re-labelled primary. Checked 2026-07-12.
Outcome & discoveries
Revealed plumes on Enceladus and lakes on Titan before its planned plunge into Saturn in 2017.
- ★Water-ice plumes and a subsurface ocean on Enceladus
- ★Lakes and seas of liquid methane on Titan
Mission profile
Spacecraft
Knowledge connections
- Operated byNASA
- Operated byESA
- Mission targetSaturn
- Operated byNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Mission includesHuygens
- Operated byASI (Italian Space Agency)
- Mission targetTitan
- Mission targetEnceladus
- CapturedSaturn — The Day the Earth Smiled
- Tracked byDeep Space Network (DSN)
- Associated withInertial Navigation
- Carries instrumentCassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
- Carries instrumentCassini Magnetometer (MAG)
- Carries instrumentCassini Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA)
- Carries instrumentCassini Radio Science Subsystem (RSS)
- Associated withTiger Stripes
- Associated withKraken Mare
- Associated withOntario Lacus
- Associated withCassini Arrives at Saturn
Related missions
| Mission | Type | Agency | Launch | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom 7 (Mercury-Redstone 3) | Crewed suborbital | NASA | 1961-05-05 | Completed |
| Friendship 7 (Mercury-Atlas 6) | Crewed orbital | NASA | 1962-02-20 | Completed |
| Apollo 8The Moon | Crewed lunar orbit | NASA | 1968-12-21 | Completed |
| Apollo 11The Moon | Crewed lunar landing | NASA | 1969-07-16 | Completed |
| Apollo 13The Moon | Crewed lunar (aborted) | NASA | 1970-04-11 | Completed |
| Apollo 17The Moon | Crewed lunar landing | NASA | 1972-12-07 | Completed |
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics
Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.