Missions to Saturn

Three space missions have flown by Saturn, Pioneer 11 and the two Voyager probes. All three probes were launched in the 1970’s, and transmitted information between 1979 and 1981. Some of the most important Saturnian discoveries of these missions are:

Four more rings
Titian’s atmospheric composition
Evidence of internal evolution on Saturn’s satellites
Evidence of the theory that moons could shepherd rings

There is also another expedition underway. The Cassini, named after the seventeenth century astronomer who discovered several of Saturn’s moons, is scheduled to reach Saturn in 2004. It will examine its magnetosphere and launch a surface probe through Titan’s atmosphere.

Summary of Past Missions

Mission	Country	Launch Date	Arrival Date	Type	Mission Details
Pioneer 11	USA	April 6, 1973	September 1, 1979	Flyby	Low-res Saturn images, discovered rings and moons
Voyager 1	USA	September 5, 1977	November 13, 1980	Flyby	900 images of Saturn's moons, information on Titian's atmosphere
Voyager 2	USA	August 20, 1977	August 26, 1981	Flyby	1,150 images of Saturn's moons
Cassini	USA, ESA, Italy	October 13, 1997	July 1, 2004	Orbiter/Atmospheric probe	12 science experiments concerning themselves with Saturn's moons, rings, atmosphere, magnetosphere and Titian's atmosphere