CASSINI COMPLETES RENDEZVOUS WITH EARTH
UFO ROUNDUP Volume 4 Number 18 August 25, 1999 Editor: Joseph Trainor Masinaigan@aol.com

On Tuesday, August 17, 1999, the Cassini spacecraft flew past Earth at 8:28 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, passing 727 miles (1,171 kilometers) above Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific.

The robot spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA on October 15, 1997. With last week's flyby of Earth, Cassini concludes its "tour" of the inner planets. Its previous stop was Venus.

As it passed each of the inner planets, Cassini picked up a "gravity boost," adding to its speed and adjusting its trajectory for the long trip to Saturn.

According to the NASA news release, "Cassini's mission is to study Saturn, its moons, its elaborate rings, and its magnetic and radiation environments for four years. Cassini will also deliver the European Space Agency's (ESA) Huygens probe via parachute to the surface of Saturn's (largest) moon, Titan."

"The flyby gave Cassini a 5.5 kilometer-per- second (12,000 miles per hour) boost in speed, sending the spacecraft on toward the ringed planet almost one billion kilometers away."

During the flyby, nine of Cassini's 12 science systems were turned on and aimed at Earth and Luna, also known as the moon, to make observations.

Next stop for Cassini is Jupiter. Cassini will fly by the gas giant on December 30, 2000. "The giant planet's gravity will bend Cassini's flight path to put it on course for arrival into orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004."

Cassini will attempt to drop the Huygens probe onto Titan on November 30, 2004." (Many thanks to Steve Wilson Sr. for the NASA news release.)