Thursday, September 21, 2006

Looking beyond our small blue planet

One of today's headlines was the discovery of another ring around Saturn. How do astronomers know this? Because of the Cassini-Huygens mission. The Cassini is a spacecraft that has been sending back extraordinary views of Saturn, its rings, and its moons.

There is a photo of Earth as seen from the viewpoint of Saturn--we are a small dot in the heavens...

[Check out these spectacular photos and the photo essay at the link below.]

The Huygens is a probe sent from the Cassini to study Titan, one of Saturn's 34 moons. Titan is a moon with its own atmosphere--and may give us clues about what Earth was like in its early years.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is an international collaborative project, with contributions by 17 countries. The data being sent back is being studied by over 250 scientists worldwide. It's awe-inspiring to see the images--and to witness what can be achieved through cooperation.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html

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