Instrument Host Information
IDENTIFIER urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument_host:spacecraft.co::1.4
NAME Cassini Orbiter
TYPE Spacecraft
DESCRIPTION The Cassini Orbiter was part of the NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission to study Saturn and its largest moon, Titan. The mission was launched in 1997, arrived at Saturn mid 2004, and was the first spacecraft to enter Saturn?s orbit where it stayed until September 2017. Until they separated after Saturn orbit insertion, Cassini was a combined Saturn orbiter and Titan atmospheric probe. It was a three-axis stabilized spacecraft equipped for 27 diverse science investigations with 12 orbiter and 6 Huygens probe instruments, one high gain (HGA) and two low gain antennas (LGAs), three Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs), main engines, attitude thrusters, and reaction wheels. For most Cassini Orbiter experiments, data were collected by instruments on the spacecraft then relayed via the orbiter telemetry system to stations of the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). The Orbiter collected detailed data for Saturn?s ring systems and its moons during its ~13 year long mission, such as the magnetospheric behaviors, clouds, dynamic ring behaviors and 3-D structures, and satellite compositions and geological history.
NAIF INSTRUMENT IDENTIFIER
SERIAL NUMBER
REFERENCES Asmar, S. W., N. A. Renzetti, The Deep Space Network as an Instrument for Radio Science Research, JPL Publication 80-93, Rev. 1, April 15, 1993.

Cassini Mission Plan, Revision N (PD 699-100), JPL Document D-5564, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, 2002.