February 2005
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The Cassini‐Huygens Mission is the first return to the Saturnian system since it was last visited in 1981. While Voyager provided our first detailed glimpse of the planet, Cassini goes far beyond with a suite of modern instrumentation covering large spectral and particle energy ranges and a 4‐year tour. The Huygens probe will provide our first in‐situ observations of a moon other than our own. This paper provides an overview of the mission’s science objectives along with the discoveries that have already created much excitement in the scientific and non‐scientific communities. © 2005 American Institute of Physics