Download or read book Radio Occultation of Saturn s Rings with the Cassini Spacecraft written by Fraser Stuart Thomson and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cassini spacecraft is a robotic probe sent from Earth to orbit and explore the planet Saturn, its moons, and its expansive ring system. Between May 3 and August 2 of 2005, we undertook a series of radio occultation experiments, during which the Cassini spacecraft operated in conjunction with the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) to probe the rings at three distinct radio wavelengths. During our occultation experiments, Cassini flies behind the rings of Saturn as viewed from Earth and transmits coherent radio signals at wavelengths of 13 cm, 3.6 cm, and 0.94 cm, in the radio bands known as S, X, and Ka, respectively. These signals pass through the rings and are received and recorded on Earth at the large antenna complexes of the DSN. At each of the three transmitted frequency channels, the received signal comprises two components, i) a direct (coherent) component, which is the transmitted sinusoid, attenuated and phase shifted by the average effect of its interaction with the interceding ring material, and ii) a scattered (incoherent) signal component, comprising energy that is forward-scattered towards the receiver from all of the ring particles illuminated by the transmitting antenna's beam. The time- and spatially-averaged diffraction signature of ring microstructure---which forms when individual ring particles organize into large clusters or groups under the influence of collisional and self-gravitational forces---is superimposed on the scattered signal. Coherent radio waves transmitted by the Cassini spacecraft are diffracted at various locations in Ring A and B and indicate the presence of fine-scale structure showing periodic variation in optical depth, which we refer to as periodic microstructure (PM). We interpret the observed spectral signature using simple diffraction grating models, yielding estimates of the structural period that range between 100 and 250 meters. In all regions, the structure appears to be approximately symmetric in azimuth. Prior to Cassini, axisymmetric periodic microstructure was predicted by fluid dynamical theory and by the results of dynamical simulations of the rings, but was not observed experimentally. Our observations are among the first to directly observe PM in the rings, and to report estimates of its structural period and orientation in five distinct regions across Rings A and B.

Download or read book The Cassini Huygens Mission written by Christopher T. Russell and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005-03-03 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The joint NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens mission is a splendid example of how international cooperation can produce a wealth of scientific return that could not be afforded by the programs of any partner alone. ESA contributed the Titan atmosphere entry probe and NASA the orbiter spacecraft, the launch, and operations. Various national agencies contributed to the payloads of both the orbiter and the entry probe. Cassini will return much more information than the Galileo mission. While Saturn is further from the Sun than Jupiter, with less illumination and a colder environment, Saturn’s weaker radiation belt permits longer periods of observation close to Saturn than were possible with Galileo at Jupiter. Cassini provides shorter period orbits, closer images of the rings and the atmosphere, and many more satellite encounters, in fact 44 encounters with Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, in the first four years in orbit. This greater number of observations provides a rich scientific bonanza for the remote sensing instruments on Cassini. This book is the third and last volume of this compendium on the Cassini-Huygens mission. This volume describes the remote sensing investigations on the Cassini orbiter: radio science, radar, visible and near infrared spectroscopy, far infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and visible imagery. This book is of interest to all potential users of the Cassini-Huygens data, to those who wish to learn about the planned scientific return from the Cassini-Huygens mission, and those curious about the processes occurring on this most fascinating planet.

Download or read book Saturn from Cassini Huygens written by Michele Dougherty and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-09-30 with total page 799 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is one of two volumes meant to capture, to the extent practical, the scienti?c legacy of the Cassini-Huygens prime mission, a landmark in the history of planetary exploration. As the most ambitious and interdisciplinary planetary exploration mission ?own to date, it has extended our knowledge of the Saturn system to levels of detail at least an order of magnitude beyond that gained from all previous missions to Saturn. Nestled in the brilliant light of the new and deep understanding of the Saturn planetary system is the shiny nugget that is the spectacularly successful collaboration of individuals, - ganizations and governments in the achievement of Cassini-Huygens. In some ways the pa- nershipsformedandlessonslearnedmaybethemost enduringlegacyofCassini-Huygens.The broad, international coalition that is Cassini-Huygens is now conducting the Cassini Equinox Mission and planning the Cassini Solstice Mission, and in a major expansion of those fruitful efforts, has extended the collaboration to the study of new ?agship missions to both Jupiter and Saturn. Such ventures have and will continue to enrich us all, and evoke a very optimistic vision of the future of international collaboration in planetary exploration. The two volumes in the series Saturn from Cassini-Huygens and Titan from Cassini- Huygens are the direct products of the efforts of over 200 authors and co-authors. Though each book has a different set of three editors, the group of six editors for the two volumes has worked together through every step of the process to ensure that these two volumes are a set.

Download or read book Analysis and Interpretation of the Voyager 1 Radio Occultation Measurements of Saturn s Rings with Emphasis on Particle Size Distribution written by Howard A. Zebker and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Rings of Saturn written by Frank Don Palluconi and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The upcoming Mariner Jupiter-Saturn '77 space project is discussed. The variations in radar and radio observations are evaluated, along with particle distribution within the Saturn rings.

Download or read book Cassini at Saturn written by David M. Harland and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-08-19 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. *Combines a review of previous knowledge of Saturn, its rings and moons, including Titan, with new spacecraft results in one handy volume. *Provides the latest and most spectacular images, which will never have appeared before in book form. *Gives a context to enable the reader to more easily appreciate the stream of discoveries that will be made by the Cassini-Huygens mission. *Tells the exciting story of the Huygens spacecraft’s journey to the surface of Titan.

Download or read book Planetary Ring Systems written by Ellis D. Miner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-12-03 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date book on the topic of planetary rings systems yet written. The book is written in a style and at a language level easily accessible to the interested non-expert. The authors cover the scientific significance of ring studies, the history of their discovery and characterization, the observations of Pioneer 10 at Jupiter, Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 at Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 2 at all four giant planets of the solar system, and Galileo at Jupiter. Each chapter includes extensive notes, references, figures and tables. A bibliography is included at the end of each chapter.

Download or read book The Ringed Planet Second Edition written by Joshua Colwell and published by Morgan & Claypool Publishers. This book was released on 2019-11-22 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On September 15, 2017, the Cassini spacecraft sent its final transmission to the Earth as it entered the atmosphere of Saturn, ending its historic 13 year mission at the ringed planet. This book is a beautifully illustrated journey of discovery through the Saturn system. Cassini's instruments have revealed never seen before details, including the only extraterrestrial lakes known in the solar system, and have provided unprecedented views of the rings, moons, and the planet itself. Results from Cassini's dramatic Grand Finale of ring-grazing and planet-skimming orbits are included in this expanded and updated second edition. Saturn is the jewel of the solar system. The Cassini spacecraft has been exploring the ringed planet and its moons and rings since 2004 and has helped us solve many of its mysteries while generating a wealth of new questions. Cassini has observed the bizarre mountains of Iapetus, the geysers of Enceladus, the lakes of Titan, and the dynamic and evolving rings. Along the way, this book explores and explains the fundamental processes that shape not just the Saturn system, but planets and moons in general. Written for the general audience with an emphasis on the fundamental physics of planetary systems, The Ringed Planet is a fascinating exploration of the Saturn system that places Saturn in the context of the solar system as a whole. Cassini's instruments have revealed Enceladus and Titan to have subsurface oceans of liquid water. Its cameras have returned stunning images of rings in turmoil, a tumbling moon, the only extraterrestrial lakes known in the solar system, a hexagon of clouds, some of the highest mountains in the solar system and much more. More than a journey of discovery at Saturn, The Ringed Planet is also an introduction to how planetary systems work.

Download or read book Fine scale Structures in Saturn s Rings written by Kévin Baillié and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cassini mission provided wonderful tools to explore Saturn, its satellites and its rings system. The UVIS instrument allowed stellar occultation observations of structures in the rings with the best resolution available (around 10 meters depending on geometry and navigation), bringing our understanding of the physics of the rings to the next level. In particular, we have been able to observe, dissect, model and test the interactions between the satellites and the rings. We first looked at kilometer-wide structures generated by resonances with satellites orbiting outside the main rings. The observation of structures in the C ring and their association with a few new resonances allowed us to estimate some constraints on the physical characteristics of the rings. However, most of our observed structures could not be explained with simple resonances with external satellites and some other mechanism has to be involved. We located four density waves associated with the Mimas 4:1, the Atlas 2:1, the Mimas 6:2 and the Pandora 4:2 Inner Lindblad Resonances and one bending wave excited by the Titan -1:0 Inner Vertical Resonance. We could estimate a range of surface mass density from 0.22 (±0.03) to 1.42 (±0.21) g cm−2 and mass extinction coefficient from 0.13 (±0.03) to 0.28 (±0.06) cm2 g−1. These mass extinction coefficient values are higher than those found in the A ring (0.01 - 0.02 cm2 g−1) and in the Cassini Division (0.07 - 0.12 cm2 g−1 from Colwell et al. (2009), implying smaller particle sizes in the C ring. We can therefore imagine that the particles composing these different rings have either different origins or that their size distributions are not primordial and have evolved differently. We also estimate the mass of the C ring to be between 3.7 (±0.9) x 1016 kg and 7.9 (±2.0) x 1016 kg, equivalent to a moon of 28.0 (±2.3) km to 36.2 (±3.0) km radius (a little larger than Pan or Atlas) with a density comparable to the two moons (400 kg m−3). From the wave damping length and the ring viscosity, we also estimate the vertical thickness of the C ring to be between 1.9 (±0.4) m and 5.6 (±1.4) m, which is consistent with the vertical thickness of the Cassini Division (2 - 20 m) from Tiscareno et al. (2007) and Colwell et al. (2009). Conducting similar analysis in the A, B rings and in the Cassini Division, we were able to estimate consistent masses with previous works for the these rings. We then investigated possible interactions between the rings and potential embedded satellites. Looking for satellite footprints, we estimated the possibility that some observed features in the Huygens Ringlet could be wakes of an embedded moon in the Huygens gap. We discredited the idea that these structures could actually be satellite wakes by estimating the possible position of such a satellite. Finally, we observed a whole population of narrow and clear holes in the C ring and the Cassini Division. Modeling these holes as depletion zones opened by the interaction of a moonlet inside the disk material (this signature is called a "propeller"), we could estimate a distribution of the meter-sized to house-sized objects in these rings. Similar objects, though an order of magnitude larger, have been visually identified in the A ring. In the C ring, we have signatures of boulders which sizes are estimated between 1.5 and 14.5 m, whereas similar measures in the Cassini Division provide moonlet sizes between 0.36 and 58.1 m. Using numerical simulations for the propeller formation, we estimate that our observed moonlets belong to a population of bigger particles than the one we thought was composing the rings: Zebker et al. (1985) described the ring particles population as following a power-law size distribution with cumulative index around 1.75 in the Cassini Division and 2.1 in the C ring. We believe propeller boulders follow a power-law with a cumulative index of 0.6 in the C ring and 0.8 in the Cassini Division. The question of whether these boulders are young, ephemeral and accreted inside the Roche limit or long-lived and maybe formed outisde by fragmentation of a larger body before migrating inward in the disk, remains a mystery. Accretion and fragmentation process are not yet well constrained and we can hope that Cassini extended mission will still provide a lot of information about it.

Download or read book Saturn in the 21st Century written by Kevin H. Baines and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-12-06 with total page 495 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed overview of Saturn's formation, evolution and structure written by eminent planetary scientists involved in the Cassini Orbiter mission.

Download or read book Mission to Saturn written by David M. Harland and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2002-09-20 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Saturn is back in the news! The Cassini/Huygens spacecraft, a joint venture by NASA and the European Space Agency, is on its way to Saturn, where it will arrive in July 2004. During 2005 it will explore beneath the clouds of Titan, Saturn's largest moon and potential home for extraterrestrial life. Written by an established space historian and experienced author, Mission To Saturn - Cassini and the Huygens Probe is an up-to-date and timely review of our knowledge of Saturn and its enigmatic moon, Titan, on which the Huygens probe will land to search for prebiotic chemistry or even life. It explains how the mission was planned, how it will operate and, as the spacecraft nears its target, puts into context the discoveries that are sure to follow from this once-in-a-lifetime mission.

Download or read book Planetary Ring Systems written by Matthew S. Tiscareno and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-22 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Planetary rings are among the most intriguing structures of our solar system and have fascinated generations of astronomers. Collating emerging knowledge in the field, this volume reviews our current understanding of ring systems with reference to the rings of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and more. Written by leading experts, the history of ring research and the basics of ring–particle orbits is followed by a review of the known planetary ring systems. All aspects of ring system science are described in detail, including specific dynamical processes, types of structures, thermal properties and their origins, and investigations using computer simulations and laboratory experiments. The concluding chapters discuss the prospects of future missions to planetary rings, the ways in which ring science informs and is informed by the study of other astrophysical disks, and a perspective on the field's future. Researchers of all levels will benefit from this thorough and engaging presentation.

Download or read book Radio Science Techniques for Deep Space Exploration written by Sami W. Asmar and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2022-03-23 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the development and state-of-the-art in deep space exploration using radio science techniques In Radio Science Techniques for Deep Space Exploration, accomplished NASA/JPL researcher and manager Sami Asmar delivers a multi-disciplinary exploration of the science, technology, engineering, mission operations, and signal processing relevant to deep space radio science. The book discusses basic principles before moving on to more advanced topics that include a wide variety of graphical illustrations and useful references to publications by experts in their respective fields. Complete explanations of changes in the characteristics of electromagnetic waves and the instrumentation and technology used in scientific experiments are examined. Radio Science Techniques for Deep Space Exploration offers answers to the question of how to explore the solar system with radio links and better understand the interior structures, atmospheres, rings, and surfaces of other planets. The author also includes: Thorough introductions to radio science techniques and systems needed to investigate planetary atmospheres, rings, and surfaces Comprehensive explorations of planetary gravity and interior structures, as well as relativistic and solar studies Practical discussions of instrumentation, technologies, and future directions in radio science techniques Perfect for students and professors of physics, astronomy, planetary science, aerospace engineering, and communications engineering, Radio Science Techniques for Deep Space Exploration will also earn a place in the libraries of engineers and scientists in the aerospace industry.

Download or read book NASA Historical Data Book V 7 written by and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 1976 with total page 1084 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume of the NASA Historical Data Book is the seventh in the series that describes NASA’s programs and projects. Covering the years 1989 through 1998, it includes the areas of launch systems, human spaceflight, and space science, continuing the volumes that addressed these topics during NASA’s previous decades. Each chapter presents information, much of it statistical, addressing funding, management, and details of programs and missions.

Download or read book NASA Historical Data Book written by and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 1080 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Cassini Huygens Mission written by C.T. Russell and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The exploration of the planets is the modem counterpart to the exploration voy ages of old. To reach the new world Columbus had to secure funding from Queen Isabella, outfit his three ships and set sail on a long journey. To explore the Amer ican Pacific Northwest, Lewis and Clark had a similar task of obtaining funding, purchasing equipment and going to points unknown, even though their path was across land and not sea. Today our journey is through space, rather than across land or sea, but we still travel with ships, now spaceworthy craft, rather than seaworthy. Our spacecraft are smaller than the ships of yore, crammed with electronics rather than provisions because man cannot go along on these journeys. We now rely on robots to be our eyes and ears at these distant worlds. Nevertheless, some aspects of exploration have not changed over the centuries. People are still fascinated by these unknown worlds and desire to explore them, and the process of obtaining the large sums of public moneys to finance these journeys still requires much pleading with authorities.

Download or read book NASA Historical Data Book NASA launch systems space transportation human spaceflight and space science 1989 1998 written by and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 1084 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: