At Saturn, Cassini Spacecraft Adjusts Orbit for Titan-ic 'Grand Finale'

Mike Wall
Cassini Spacecraft at Saturn

NASA's Cassini probe has begun reshaping its orbit around Saturn in preparation for the spacecraft's "grand finale" at the ringed planet next year.

Cassini performed a 35-second engine burn on Saturday (Jan. 23) to set up an orbit-changing Feb. 1 flyby of Saturn's huge moon Titan. It was the second of five such burns Cassini will conduct, all of which will be followed by a close encounter with Titan.

"Titan does all the heavy lifting," Cassini project manager Earl Maize, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "Our job is to get the spacecraft to a precise altitude and latitude above Titan, at a particular time, and these large propulsive maneuvers are what keep us on target to do that." [Latest Saturn Photos From NASA's Cassini Orbiter]

The Jan. 23 burn changed Cassini's velocity by 22.3 feet (6.8 meters) per second, whereas the Feb. 1 Titan flyby will adjust the probe's speed by 2,539 feet (774 m) per second, NASA officials said.

The mission's home stretch should be productive as well, Cassini team members said.

"We have an exciting year of Saturn science planned as we head for higher ground. And the views along the way should be spectacular," Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker, also of JPL, said in the same statement.

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