Doug Isbell/Don Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC              September 12, 1997
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, FL
(Phone:  407/867-2468)

Mary Beth Murrill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone:  818/354-5011)

RELEASE:  97-198

REPAIR WORK ON CASSINI HUYGENS 
PROBE COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY

     Engineers at Kennedy Space Center, FL, have completed repairs 
to damaged thermal insulation on the European Space Agency's 
Huygens probe, a part of the Cassini mission to Saturn.  Based on 
the amount of time needed to return the spacecraft to the pad from 
a spacecraft checkout facility and complete the work necessary to 
be ready for launch, NASA managers have set a tentative launch 
date of no earlier than Oct. 13.  The launch date will be 
confirmed by the Air Force after the spacecraft has been mated to 
the Titan IV/Centaur next week.

     On Sept. 7, the spacecraft was removed from atop the Air 
Force Titan IV rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 to repair the 
insulation inside the Huygens probe.  Damage was caused by a 
higher-than-acceptable flow rate from the air conditioning to the 
inside of the probe.

     To make the probe ready for launch again, engineers detached 
and disassembled the Huygens probe from the Cassini orbiter.  Upon 
inspection, the damage was found to be limited to a few square 
inches of foam and Kapton insulation.  The damaged material was 
removed and the insulation repaired.  

     The Huygens probe has now been retested and reassembled.  
Closeouts are under way today in preparation for mating the probe 
once again to the Cassini orbiter on Saturday.

                             - end -