Cassini–Huygens
Cassini–Huygens ni chombo cha angani kilichotumwa na NASA na ESA kufanya utafiti wa sayari Zohali (Saturnus) na miezi yake hasa Titan. Chombo kina sehemu mbili:
- Cassini ni sehemu inayoendelea kuzunguka sayari na miezi yake ikipiga picha na kupima mnururisho
- Huygens ni chombo cha kufikia kwenye uso wa Titan.
Cassini-Huygens imepewa jina kutokana na wataalamu wawili. Hao ni wanaastronomia Mwitalia Giovanni Domenico Cassini na Mholanzi Christiaan Huygens waliokuwa watu wa kwanza kuifanyia Zohali utafiti katika historia. Chombo kilirushwa angani 15 Oktoba 1997 kikafikia Njia mzingo ya Zohali 1 Julai 2004.
Safari za Huygens
Sehemu ya Huygens iliachana na Cassini na kufika usoni wa Titan 14 Januari 2005 ambao iliweza kutuma data kwa dakika 72. Data hizi zilihusu hasa angahewa ya mwezi huu na mchanganyiko wa elementi za kikemia ndani yake, halijoto na halihewa yake.
Safari ya Cassini
Cassini inaendelea kuzunguka sayari na miezi yake. Mwaka 2012 ilituma picha za kwanza za mito nje ya dunia yetu iliyotambuliwa kwenye mwezi Titan. Maziwa na mito ya Titan ni ya methani na hidrokaboni nyingine zinazotokea duniani kama gesi lakini kwenye baridi ya Titan hupatikana kama kiowevu. Cassini ilipiga picha za mto menye urefu wa kilomita 400. [1]
Nishati ya injini ya Cassini inakwisha mwezi wa Septemba 2017. Hapo ilipangiwa kuangusha chomboanga hiki katika angahewa ya Zohali itakapoungua motoni kama kimondo. Kuanzia 26 Aprili 2017 hadi 15 Septemba Cassini inazunguka sayari mara 22 ikipita kwenye pete za Zohali hadi tabaka za juu za angahewa na kukusanya data nyingi iwezekanavyo zinazotumwa duniani.
Viungo vya Nje
- Cassini-Huygens Main Page Archived 27 Desemba 2012 at the Wayback Machine. at NASA
- Habari za Huygens kwenye tovuti ya Unawe Tanzania Archived 15 Machi 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
- Cassini Mission Homepage Archived 28 Aprili 2006 at the Wayback Machine. by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Cassini-Huygens Mission Profile Archived 16 Desemba 2013 at the Wayback Machine. by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- Cassini Imaging Homepage
- Cassini information by the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC).
- Photo Gallery - full coverage
- Cassini's Tour de Saturn part A, B, C, D, E, F – descriptions of the 4-year tour of Saturn by Bruce Moomaw
- SpaceflightNow news coverage of the mission Archived 3 Februari 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- Countdown to Cancel the Cassini Space Probe by the Baltimore Peace Network in 1997 due to concerns over the use of plutonium
- Spacecraft Cassini is Visiting Saturn! — children's stories explaining the Cassini mission