A picture of the Cassini probe before launch
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of NASA
Cassini Probe Burning for Venus
News story originally written on December 2, 1998
The
Cassini Spacecraft will fire its engine
tonight to change its course. It will start firing on December 2nd at
10:00 p.m. PST, which is December 3rd at 0600 GMT. You can watch
Cassini's speed change right as the engine fires. Just follow the link
from the
Cassini Mission
Homepage.
The spacecraft needs to slow down by 452 m/s. Then it will pass near
Venus for a
gravity
assist on its way to Saturn.
You might also be interested in:

It was another exciting and frustrating year for the space science program. It seemed that every step forward led to one backwards. Either way, NASA led the way to a great century of discovery. Unfortunately,
...more
The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on October 29th at 2:19 p.m. EST. The sky was clear and the weather was great. This was the America's 123rd manned space mission. A huge
...more
Scientists found a satellite orbiting the asteroid, Eugenia. This is the second one ever! A special telescope allows scientists to look through Earth's atmosphere. The first satellite found was Dactyl.
...more
The United States wants Russia to put the service module in orbit! The module is part of the International Space Station. It was supposed to be in space over 2 years ago. Russia just sent supplies to the
...more
A coronal mass ejection (CME) happened on the Sun last month. The material that was thrown out from this explosion passed the ACE spacecraft. ACE measured some exciting things as the CME material passed
...more
Trees and plants are a very important part of this Earth. Trees and plants are nature's air conditioning because they help keep our Earth cool. On a summer day, walking bare-foot on the sidewalk burns,
...more
There is something special happening in the night sky. Through mid-May, you will be able to see five planets at the same time! This doesn't happen very often, so you won't want to miss this. Use the links
...more