Cassini ends one mission, begins another

Pasadena, Calif. -- The U.S. space agency's Cassini spacecraft is ending its first mission at Saturn and starting a two-year task to focus on Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus.

Cassini completed its four-year primary mission Monday, beginning the extended mission, which was approved in April.

"Among other things, Cassini revealed the Earth-like world of Saturn's moon Titan and showed the potential habitability of another moon, Enceladus," the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.

"These two worlds are primary targets in the two-year extended mission, dubbed the Cassini Equinox Mission," officials said. "This time period also will allow for monitoring seasonal effects on Titan and Saturn, exploring new places within Saturn's magnetosphere, and observing the unique ring geometry of the Saturn equinox in August of 2009, when sunlight will pass directly through the plane of the rings."

Cassini was launched Oct. 15, 1997, on a seven-year 2.2 billion-mile journey.

The spacecraft entered Saturn's orbit June 30, 2004.

NASA said data from Cassini's could lay the groundwork for possible future missions to Saturn, Titan or Enceladus.

Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA and the European and Italian space agencies. It's managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.