Cassini-Huygens Visit to Saturn

Michael Meltzer is a full-time writer of space exploration books and an environmental scientist and engineer. Meltzer worked as an environmental engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1990 to 2006. Before that, he was a senior environmental scientist at Jacobs Engineering Group. He holds a doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering from UCLA and a masters degree in Geophysics and a bachelors degree in Physics from University of California at Berkeley. Meltzer has designed the curricula for two college-level classes.His previous books include When Biospheres Collide (NASA, 2011) and Mission to Jupiter (NASA, 2009) and a textbook entitled Passive & Active Solar Heating Technology (Prentice-Hall, 1985).

"In this four-part work, Meltzer ... addresses the development of the concept and the politics associated with its development, the design of the spacecraft and its mission, the mission itself, and the results of the mission. ... This is a testament to both the spacecraft designers and the ingenuity of the operations team. A well-written, thoroughly researched book with appropriate photographs and drawings. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All space technology and history collections." (A. M. Strauss, Choice, Vol. 52 (12), August, 2015)

• Part I: Creating a New Expedition to Saturn.- Conceiving and Funding the Mission.- Building an International Partnership and Preventing Mission Cancellation.- Part II: Designing, Fabricating, and Integrating the Cassini-Huygens Space Vessel.- Constructing the Cassini Orbiter.- The Titan Huygens Probe.- Integrating the Cassini Orbiter, Huygens Probe, and Titan/Centaur Launch Vehicle.- Using Plutonium to Run a Spacecraft.- Part III: From Earth to Saturn.- The Interplanetary Journey.- How a Few People Can Make a Big Difference: The Doppler Shift Problem That Nearly Ended the Huygens Mission.- The Huygens Titan Probe Mission.- The Saturn Tour: Decision-Making Processes, Trajectory Design, and Changes of Management.- Part IV: A Great Natural Laboratory.- The Mother Planet and its Magnetosphere.- The Ring System.- The Icy Moons.- Titan Observations by the Cassini Orbiter.- Conclusions.- Appendix: Breakdown of Mission Costs.