Mission to Saturn: Cassini and the Huygens Probe (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) [Paperback]

David M. Harland (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1852336560 | ISBN-13: 978-1852336561 | Publication Date: October 28, 2002 | Edition: 1st Edition.

Saturn is back in the news! The Cassini/Huygens spacecraft, a joint venture by NASA and the European Space Agency, is on its way to Saturn, where it will arrive in July 2004. During 2005 it will explore beneath the clouds of Titan, Saturn's largest moon and potential home for extraterrestrial life. Written by an established space historian and experienced author, Mission To Saturn - Cassini and the Huygens Probe is an up-to-date and timely review of our knowledge of Saturn and its enigmatic moon, Titan, on which the Huygens probe will land to search for prebiotic chemistry or even life. It explains how the mission was planned, how it will operate and, as the spacecraft nears its target, puts into context the discoveries that are sure to follow from this once-in-a-lifetime mission.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"David Harland takes a long, serious look at Saturn from the first telescopic observations, the theorising about the rings, the early spectroscopy, the vistas and the science revealed by the spacecraft flybys of 1979, 1980 and 1981. Then he tackles the planning, building and journey of the Cassini orbiter, the most highly instrumented spacecraft ever dispatched on a deep space mission, and the Huygens Titan probe. Mission to Saturn is superbly illustrated, well referenced and an eminently readable book." - New Scientist

 

"We learned more about Saturn in one week than in the entire span of human history."
–Bradford Smith, Voyager Imaging Team Leader

Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1st Edition. edition (October 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852336560
• ISBN-13: 978-1852336561
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,855,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harland's "Lord of the Rings", February 10, 2003

By 

Alex Blackwell (Wahiawa, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mission to Saturn: Cassini and the Huygens Probe (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) (Paperback)

In David M. Harland's latest work, MISSION TO SATURN: CASSINI AND THE HUYGENS PROBE, the reader will find an excellent compendium of mankind's efforts to unravel the mysteries of the ringed giant planet culminating in the current joint U.S./European Cassini/Huygens mission, which one should note still has 1.5 years remaining before it reaches its primary target. Readers familiar with Harland's style will not be surprised that he hews closely to the now familiar, and almost formulaic, approach adopted for his well-received book on the Galileo mission to Jupiter. The first four chapters of MISSION TO SATURN are used to recount the centuries of astronomical observations that preceded the modern spacecraft reconnaissance and exploration efforts of Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2; the final extended chapter is devoted almost exclusively to the Cassini/Huygens mission. In true workmanlike fashion, Harland utilizes his historian's eye for details, his archivist-like pursuit of primary source materials, many of which are very hard to find, and his rather considerable talent in rendering technical and scientific matters accessible to a wide range of readers. I highly recommend MISSION TO SATURN, which is richly illustrated and abundantly footnoted, to readers of all levels. The Cassini/Huygens mission will, if all goes as planned, return a veritable flood of data that will revolutionize our knowledge of the saturnian system. In anticipation of this, MISSION TO SATURN should take a prominent place on the planetary scientist's bookshelf.