Cassini rendezvous with Saturn's moons
With arrival at Saturn on 1 July 2004, Cassini's long voyage through the Saturn system began. Altogether Cassini will circle Saturn 76 times. This will include 52 close fly-bys of seven of the 47 known moons. The spacecraft must perform 45 swing-by manoeuvres of Titan so as to gain additional momentum.
|
Orbit |
Moon |
Fly-by date |
Altitude |
| 0 |
Phoebe |
11 June 2004 |
1997 km |
| A |
Titan |
26 October 2004 |
1200 km |
| B |
Titan |
13 December 2004 |
2358 km |
| B |
Probe Release |
24 December 2004 |
n/a km |
| C |
Iapetus |
1 January 2005 |
65 000 km |
| C |
Titan |
14 January 2005 |
60 000 km |
| 3 |
Titan |
15 February 2005 |
950 km |
| 3 |
Enceladus |
17 February 2005 |
1179 km |
| 4 |
Enceladus |
9 March 2005 |
500 km |
| 5 |
Titan |
31 March 2005 |
2523 km |
| 6 |
Titan |
16 April 2005 |
950 km |
| 11 |
Enceladus |
14 July 2005 |
1000 km |
| 12 |
Mimas |
2 August 2005 |
45 100 km |
| 13 |
Titan |
22 August 2005 |
4015 km |
| 14 |
Titan |
7 September 2005 |
950 km |
| 15 |
Tethys |
24 September 2005 |
33 000 km |
| 15 |
Hyperion |
26 September 2005 |
990 km |
| 16 |
Dione |
11 October 2005 |
500 km |
| 17 |
Titan |
28 October 2005 |
1446 km |
| 18 |
Rhea |
26 November 2005 |
500 km |
| 19 |
Titan |
26 December 2005 |
10 429 km |
| 20 |
Titan |
15 January 2006 |
2042 km |
| 21 |
Titan |
27 February 2006 |
1812 km |
| 22 |
Titan |
18 March 2006 |
1947 km |
| 23 |
Titan |
30 April 2006 |
1853 km |
| 24 |
Titan |
20 May 2006 |
1879 km |
| 25 |
Titan |
2 July 2006 |
1911 km |
| 26 |
Titan |
22 July 2006 |
950 km |
| 28 |
Titan |
7 September 2006 |
950 km |
| 29 |
Titan |
23 September 2006 |
950 km |
| 30 |
Titan |
9 October 2006 |
950 km |
| 31 |
Titan |
25 October 2006 |
950 km |
| 35 |
Titan |
12 December 2006 |
950 km |
| 36 |
Titan |
28 December 2006 |
1500 km |
| 37 |
Titan |
13 January 2007 |
950 km |
| 38 |
Titan |
29 January 2007 |
2776 km |
| 39 |
Titan |
22 February 2007 |
953 km |
| 40 |
Titan |
10 March 2007 |
956 km |
| 41 |
Titan |
26 March 2007 |
953 km |
| 42 |
Titan |
10 April 2007 |
951 km |
| 43 |
Titan |
26 April 2007 |
951 km |
| 44 |
Titan |
12 May 2007 |
950 km |
| 45 |
Titan |
28 May 2007 |
2425 km |
| 46 |
Titan |
13 June 2007 |
950 km |
| 47 |
Tethys |
27 June 2007 |
16 200 km |
| 47 |
Titan |
29 June 2007 |
1942 km |
| 48 |
Titan |
19 July 2007 |
1302 km |
| 49 |
Rhea |
30 August 2007 |
5100 km |
| 49 |
Titan |
31 August 2007 |
3227 km |
| 49 |
Iapetus |
10 September 2007 |
1000 km |
| 50 |
Titan |
2 October 2007 |
950 km |
| 52 |
Titan |
19 November 2007 |
950 km |
| 53 |
Titan |
5 December 2007 |
1300 km |
| 54 |
Titan |
20 December 2007 |
953 km |
| 55 |
Titan |
5 January 2008 |
949 km |
| 59 |
Titan |
22 February 2008 |
959 km |
| 61 |
Enceladus |
12 March 2008 |
995 km |
| 62 |
Titan |
25 March 2008 |
950 km |
| 67 |
Titan |
12 May 2008 |
950 km |
| 69 |
Titan |
28 May 2008 |
1316 km |