This computer animation shows the observations to be taken by the Cassini spacecraft during its second close approach to Titan on Monday, Dec. 13, 2004. Red indicates observations to be taken in the infrared, white in the visible, and purple in the ultraviolet. The name of the instrument team that designed each observation -- Imaging Science Subsystem, Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, Composite and Infrared Spectrometer and Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph, is shown.
During this flyby, Cassini will pass approximately 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) above Titan's surface - about the same distance as the previous close flyby in October. This will be Cassini's final flyby of Titan before the European Space Agency's Huygens probe, piggybacking on Cassini, is released to explore the smoggy moon's atmosphere and touch down on its surface.
The globe of Titan is covered with the map of imaging data shown in PIA06148.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org .
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
