**2. Cassini mission summary**

The Cassini-Huygens Mission-to-Saturn interplanetary spacecraft mission was the fourth spacecraft to visit the Saturnian system, but was the first spacecraft ever to be captured into orbit about Saturn. The Cassini Program was a joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), plus several other participants. Launched on October 15, 1997, Cassini traveled to Saturn following a 6.7-year cruise, which was supported by four Venus, Earth, and Jupiter planet "gravity-assist" flybys (an energy exchange between the planet and the spacecraft that accelerates the vehicle, changing its direction and velocity; **Figure 1** [1]).

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**Figure 3.**

**Figure 2.**

*Cassini's three tour phases (science mission overview).*

*Cassini's orbital paths during its three mission tour phases (credit: NASA/JPL).*

*Robotic Autonomous Spacecraft Missions: Cassini Mission-To-Saturn Example*

After a highly successful Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) in June of 2004, the Huygens Probe was deployed onto the surface of Titan in January of 2005.

After a highly successful Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) in June 2004, the Huygens Probe was deployed onto the surface of Titan in January 2005. Cassini continued on to investigate Saturn, its rings, and satellites, in an outstanding 4-year expedition of the Saturnian system during its Prime Tour phase. At the end of the Prime mission (ending in 2008), all instruments and major spacecraft systems were verified to be healthy with a good volume of propellant remaining in the fuel tanks. Due to the great success of the Prime Tour with the vast quantity of new discoveries and overall quality of science returned by the spacecraft, NASA Headquarters allocated funding for the extension of Cassini's mission for a further 2 years, called the Equinox Mission (2008–2010).

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82161*

**Figure 1.** *Cassini-Huygens mission trajectory to Saturn.*
