Passage to a Ringed World: The Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan, NASA SP-533 by Spilker, Linda J.; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; NASA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory - 1997

Washington DC: NASA, 1997. Paperback. First NASA edition, 1997. Near Fine paperback with a touch of rubbing at the edges. BOOKS SHIP THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY, WRAPPED IN PADDING, IN A BOX. This volume, published by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explains in easy to understand text and copious illustrations what is involved in sending a large spacecraft to the outer solar system. "You will learn that Huygens is an atmospheric probe that the Cassini spacecraft will deliver to Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Titan has a gaseous atmosphere that is thicker and more obscuring than the atmosphere here on Earth. We will look through Titan’s atmosphere with Cassini's radar and discover surface details for the first time. The mission will find out if there are really liquid hydrocarbons on Titan's surface in the form of lakes or seas. The Cassini spacecraft itself will spend four years in orbit about Saturn. We will examine the rings and visit many of the satellites. We will sample special locations in the magnetosphere that are believed to harbor interesting plasma processes (that is, electromagnetic interactions involving electrons, protons and ions.)" Edited by Linda J. Spilker. NASA SP-533. 158 pages; color and b&w photographs, drawings, charts, and schematics throughout; 8.5 x 11 inches. 6 appendices.