The Cassini Saturn-Orbiter Spacecraft

The Illustrations below are provided to help the reader become familiar with complex interplanetary spacecraft, as discussed in Section II, Flight Projects. Many of Cassini's components are typical of the on-board systems, subsystems, and assemblies discussed elsewhere in Basics of Space Flight.

The images below show the Cassini Saturn Orbiter Spacecraft viewed from opposite sides. They were taken while the spacecraft was in preparaton for launch in October 1997. Click the image at left to view the spacecraft in proportion to human scale.The extensive thermal blanketing (see this photo) had not yet been installed on the spacecraft, so nearly all the spacecraft's components are visible. Also note the Huygens Titan Probe is not installed at this point (see this photo), nor are the three Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators. Many red covers, "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" can be seen protecting instrument apertures and thermal control louvers.

Extensive information (including links to pertinent Basics pages) is available by clicking on the names of components below. For comparison, see also the illustration of the Galileo Spacecraft that is linked from the first page in Chapter 11, Typical Onboard Systems.