Cassini's Flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus

Cassini's Flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus


Successful Flight Through Enceladus Plume

The Cassini spacecraft has weathered the Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus in good health and has been sending images and data of the encounter back to Earth. Cassini had approached Enceladus more closely before, but this passage took the spacecraft on its deepest plunge yet through the heart of the plume shooting out from the south polar region. Scientists are eagerly sifting through the results.

In this unprocessed image, sunlight brightens a crescent curve along the edge of Saturn's moon Enceladus and highlights its misty plume. The image was captured by Cassini's narrow-angle camera as the spacecraft passed about 190,000 kilometers (120,000 miles) over the moon....

...At its closest point on Nov. 2, Cassini flew about 100 kilometers (60 miles) above the surface of Enceladus.
[link to www.nasa.gov]

[link to www.nasa.gov]