Size: 6.7 metres high by 4.0 metres wide
Weight: 5712 kilograms
Powered by: Nuclear thermoelectric generators, packed with 30 kilograms of plutonium
Number of people who worked on the Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe: 5000
Launched on: 15 October 1997
Cassini: Mission to Saturn - Learn more in our continually updated special report.
Distance travelled on journey to Saturn: 3.5 billion kilometres
Tour: At least 76 orbits of Saturn
Time it takes for light from Saturn to reach Earth: 84 minutes at time of Cassini's arrival (but this varies as the planets move around the Sun)
Relative size of Saturn: 764 times bigger than Earth by volume, but only 95 times more massive, as it is mostly made of hydrogen and helium
Density of Saturn: 0.69 that of water, meaning it would float on water
Period of Saturn's orbit around the Sun: 29.42 Earth years
Length of Saturn's day: 10 hours, 39.4 minutes
Distance of Saturn from the Sun: 1.43 billion kilometres, approximately 10 times the distance of the Earth from the Sun
Sunlight at Saturn: Receives just 1% the sunlight that Earth does
Windspeeds: Gusts near the planet’s equator blow at up to 500 metres a second
Relative size of Saturn's ring system: it would barely fit in the space between the Earth and the Moon
Number of known moons of Saturn: About 40. Over 20 were discovered since Cassini's launch
Size of Titan: 5150 kilometres wide. Larger than the planets Mercury or Pluto
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
20:00 03 July 2008
