Contact:

Ed Campion
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
(Phone: 301/286-8955)

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June 29, 2004 - RELEASE: 04-29

PUBLIC INVITED TO VIEW ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING CASSINI SPACECRAFT'S ARRIVAL TO THE PLANET SATURN

NASA employees, their families as well members of the general public are invited to come to NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center tomorrow evening to observe via television the arrival of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft to the planet Saturn. The Goddard Visitor Center will open at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched more than six and a half years ago on October 15, 1997 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Orbit insertion around Saturn is expected to take place at the end of a 2.2 billion mile (3.5 billion km) journey at about 10:36 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 30, 2004.

In addition to watching television coverage of Cassini-Huygens mission operations taking place at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, visitors will also hear from individuals associated with the Goddard portion of the Cassini-Huygens mission and can view current exhibits and displays located at the visitor center. The Goddard Astronomy Club will have telescopes set up outside the visitor center for night sky viewing as well.

The main objective of the Cassini-Huygens mission is to gain a better understanding of the planet Saturn, its famous rings, its magnetosphere, its principal moon Titan and its other moons or "icy satellites."

Members of the news media who wish to attend the event should contact the GSFC newsroom for additional press information. The newsroom can be reached at 301-286-8955.

Directions to GSFC Visitor Center - From Baltimore-Washington Parkway (Route 295) take Greenbelt Road exit (Route 193). Go east on 193 for approximately 2 miles. You will pass the main GSFC gate on the left at the first traffic light after Cipriano Road. Continue 3/4 mile on Greenbelt Road to the next traffic light and turn left onto Soil Conservation Road. Then take the first left on Explorer Road, and follow signs to Visitor Center.