Cassini's Infrared Saturn | Director's Cut

The Cassini-Huygens mission arrived at Saturn in 2004, beginning an epic thirteen-year tour of the ringed planet and its many moons. Cassini and its companion probe, Huygens, were an international collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Cassini carried an impressive array of scientific instruments, including the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) built at Goddard Space Flight Center. By studying the Saturn system in heat radiation, CIRS observed hot spots in a giant Saturn storm, discovered a new hydrocarbon in Titan's smoggy atmosphere, found unexpected surface heating on Mimas and Tethys, and even detected evidence of a liquid water ocean under the icy shell of Enceladus. Join instrument team members Mike Flasar, Conor Nixon, and Carrie Anderson as they retell Cassini CIRS' greatest hits. This director's cut version features an extended introduction and conclusion.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Dan Gallagher

Music provided by Killer Tracks: "Journey in the Milky Way," "Odyssey," "Solaris," "Expansive," "Horizon Ahead," "Ion Bridge," "Outer Space"