Cassini: Unveiling the Myth

This 2001 poster was created with the help of student artists in Los Angeles early in the Cassini mission. It depicts the mythological story of Saturn combined with images of space exploration.

The original contents of the poster — which has not been updated since publication in 2001 — is available for download on the right.

The Cassini mural is a wonderful depiction of the mythological story of Saturn combined with images of space-age exploration. In the upper left, the Roman god Saturn (the ancient symbol of time), is drawing back a veil to allow the Cassini spacecraft to reveal the mysteries of the sixth planet. In the center of the image, the Cassini spacecraft is seen firing its main engine to brake into orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. Beneath the spacecraft, the rings unfold as a vast sheet of orbiting particles.

In the lower left of the image, the Huygens probe is descending into the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. In the foreground, the orbiter points its large high-gain antenna toward Titan, collecting probe data for relay back to Earth.

The Cassini mural was painted by eight young master painters at an art academy in east Los Angeles, California. The academy — the Academia de Arte Yepes — gives promising young Hispanic painters an opportunity to develop their talents and skills at mural design without being burdened with tuition costs, while maintaining their normal home, school, and comm unity duties. Working with Cassini Project personnel, the painters created a mural that is a stunn ing blend of art and science.

The eight artists were Ulysses Garcia (lead artist), Gabriel Estrada, Abel Gonzales, Daniel Gonzales, Octavio Gonzales, Francisco Vasquez, Juan Solis, and Rebeca Robles.