Synopses & Reviews
Written by an established space historian and experienced author of books of this kind, Mission to Saturn provides a readable, up-to-date, and timely review of our knowledge of Saturn and its enigmatic moon, Titan, on which the Huygens probe will land--or possibly splash down in an ocean of ethane--to determine whether there is active prebiotic chemistry. The book explains how the Casini/Huygens mission was planned and how it will operate, and provides a context to appreciate the discoveries that are sure to flow from this once-in-a-lifetime mission.
Review
"David Harland takes a long, serious look at Saturn from the first telescopic observations, the theorising about the rings, the early spectroscopy, the vistas and the science revealed by the spacecraft flybys of 1979, 1980 and 1981. Then he tackles the planning, building and journey of the Cassini orbiter, the most highly instrumented spacecraft ever dispatched on a deep space mission, and the Huygens Titan probe. Mission to Saturn is superbly illustrated, well referenced and an eminently readable book." - New Scientist "We learned more about Saturn in one week than in the entire span of human history." -Bradford Smith, Voyager Imaging Team Leader
Synopsis
Saturn is back in the news The Cassini/Huygens spacecraft, a joint venture by NASA and the European Space Agency, is on its way to Saturn, where it will arrive in July 2004. During 2005 it will explore beneath the clouds of Titan, Saturn's largest moon and possible home for extraterrestrial life. There are, as yet, no books devoted to the Cassini/Huygens mission aimed at the 'space enthusiast' market. David Harland's book explains how the Cassini/Huygens mission was planned, how it operates, and how its observations will fit in with our existing knowledge of the Saturn system.
Table of Contents
List of Figures.- List of Tables.- Author's Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Saturn from Afar.- First Close Look.- Saturn Revealed.- The Titans.- Cassini-Huygens.- Collected footnotes.- Table of Saturn's Satellites.- Further Reading.- Index.