The mobile service tower has been retracted away from the Titan IVB/Centaur rocket carrying the Cassini spacecraft, marking a major milestone in the launch countdown sequence. Cassini launched Oct. 15, 1997 from Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
A joint endeavor of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Cassini has been studying the Saturnian system since its June 30, 2004 arrival at the ringed planet. The spacecraft has returned remarkable images and readings of Saturn, its rings and moons. Cassini also carried the Huygens probe, which parachuted to the surface of the planet’s largest moon, Titan, in January 2005. The mission will end Sept. 15 with an atmospheric entry into Saturn. For more information and images from the mission, visit https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini.
Oct. 12, 1997
Photo credit: NASA