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Saturn

"The ringed planet"

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Saturn, named after the Roman god of agriculture and wealth, is the seventh-smallest planet in our solar system. Often referred to as “the ringed planet” due to its prominent ring of icy debris. Features of the planet include a “surface” consisting of gas with liquids deeper within the planet.

The planet has been explored by four unmanned spacecraft. These include Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and Cassini.

Traditional life here has been deemed unlikely due to the pressures and the planet largely consisting of gas.

Important Stats

  • 6th planet from the Sun (927 million miles)
  • 53 moons
  • 72,367 miles in diameter
  • 27 degree axis tilt
  • 10,759 day long years
  • 105% of Earth’s gravity (10.44 m/s²)
  • Average temperature of -285 degrees F
  • Atmospheric makeup of mostly hydrogen and helium gas

Moons

  • Titan
  • Hyperion
  • Phoebe
  • 50 other moons…

Ring Composition

Thought to be largely composed of pieces of comets, asteroids, and shattered moons. The rings are billions of small chunks of ice and rock that are coated in dust.

Surface Photos

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Dragonfly Mission

NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the Dragonfly mission, a rotorcraft lander mission under NASA’s New Frontiers Program, designed to explore Saturn’s moon Titan. The mission will sample materials and determine surface composition in different geologic settings, advancing our search for the building blocks of life.

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NASA’s Dragonfly space-drone gets more wind tunnel testing treatment

One of the more crazy, and extremely exciting, missions NASA is working on for space exploration is the Dragonfly spacecraft. This car-sized drone will explore the alien world of Titan, one of the moons of Saturn, by flying around it instead of driving like its Martian counter-parts. It just received some wind tunnel testing with a half-scale test vehicle.

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