Good news from Saturn. After four years of amazing work, and with the spacecraft still operating at a high level of efficiency, NASA has agreed to a $160 million extension of the Cassini mission to Saturn.
The Cassini robotic probe has been one of the glories of the Space Age. Launched in 1997, the spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004 and has been exploring the beautiful ringed planet with astonishing success ever since. Cassini launched the Huygens probe, built by the European Space Agency, down to the surface of Titan and has performed amazing scientific research on both Saturn and its system of moons for nearly four years.
While its planned primary mission is soon to end, Cassini remains in excellent health and more than capable of continuing its exploration of the Saturnian system. NASA's decision to fund an extension of the program, even in this time of strong budget pressures, is an extremely wise one.
