Cassini-Huygens

Space probe developed jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency to explore the planet Saturn. Cassini was launched on 15 October 1997 to study the planet's atmosphere, rings, and moons, and to drop off a sub-probe, Huygens, to land on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The mission passed Saturn's moon Phoebe in June 2004 and achieved orbit insertion around Saturn on 1 July 2004.

The Huygens probe parachuted to the surface of Titan on 14 January 2005, returning images of the surface during the descent and after landing.

The Cassini-Huygens mission was launched on a Titan 4 rocket, with its electricity supplied by 32 kg/70 lb of plutonium. This was the largest amount of plutonium ever to be sent into space, and provoked fears of contamination should Cassini, or its rocket, malfunction.