Thursday 2nd December 2004

Flett Events Theatre
Earth Galleries, Natural History Museum, London
Registration: 10.00 a.m.
Briefing starts: 10.30 a.m.

Since entering the orbit of Saturn on the 1st July this year the joint
NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini Huygens spacecraft has delivered amazing images and
data of the ringed planet and its mysterious moon Titan. The mission is
now approaching a crucial milestone in its voyage of discovery.

On 25th December 2004 the Huygens probe will separate from the Cassini
orbiter and spend the next 20 days cruising towards its target, Saturn’s
largest moon, Titan. On 14th January 2005 the probe will begin its
final descent to the surface of Titan, analysing the composition of the
moon’s atmosphere and ‘weather’ system before landing on its “unknown”
surface some three hours later where it will carry out further scientific
studies.

This media briefing will provide an update on science achievements so far,
future prospects and, importantly, a detailed timeline for the Huygens
separation, descent and landing plus news handling arrangements for the 25
December 2004 and 14 January 2005.

Speakers

Dr. Monica Grady, the Natural History Museum

Dr Gerhard Schwehm, European Space Agency

Professor Carl Murray, Queen Mary, University of London *
Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem team

Professor John Zarnecki, Open University * Principal Investigator,
Huygens Surface Science Package

Gary Lay, LogicaCMG * UK industry involvement

Registration

Contact Julia Maddock, PPARC Press Office
Tel: 01793 442094
Mobile: 07901 514975
Email: julia.maddock@pparc.ac.uk

Venue

The press briefing takes place in the Flett Events Theatre, Earth Galleries
at the Natural History Museum (map – http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visiting/where.html)
which can be best accessed from the Exhibition Road entrance. Nearest tube
is South Kensington.

Video Resources

Video animations of the Cassini – Huygens mission and the descent to Titan
will be available at the briefing. New animations will be available following
the ESA press briefing on 7th December. See www.esa.tv for further details.

Interviews

Requests for interviews with speakers will be co-ordinated on the day. In
addition to those mentioned several other scientists and industrialists
involved in the mission will be available for comment.

Websites

NASA * http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

ESA * http://saturn.esa.int

Background

UK scientists are playing significant roles in the Cassini Huygens mission
with involvement in 6 of the 12 instruments onboard the Cassini orbiter and
2 of the 6 instruments on the Huygens probe. The UK has the lead role in the
magnetometer instrument on Cassini (Imperial College) and the Surface Science
Package on Huygens (Open University).

UK industry has provided many of the key systems for the Huygens probe,
including the flight software (LogicaCMG) and parachutes (Martin Baker).
These mission critical systems are designed to perform reliably in some of the
most challenging and remote environments ever attempted by a robotic spacecraft.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative mission of NASA, the European
Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, California, a division of the California Institute of Technology
also in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate,
Washington, D.C.

The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UK’s
strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education and
public understanding in four broad areas of science – particle physics,
astronomy, cosmology and space science.

PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to
scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to world-class
facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the
European Organisation for Nuclear Research, CERN, the European Space Agency
and the European Southern Observatory. It also contributes money for the UK
telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK
Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the
MERLIN/VLBI National Facility.