Where did nasa send the space probe cassini?

Answer 1

Liftoff! On Wednesday, October 15, 1997, at 4:43 a.m. EDT, a Titan IV­B launch vehicle with a Centaur high-energy upper stage lifted the Cassini spacecraft into Earth orbit and then sent it on the first leg of its 7-year journey to Saturn. Repeating the picture-perfect performance of so many other Centaur missions, the Titan IV­B inserted Cassini onto its trans-Venus trajectory with the expected high precision generally associated with America's most powerful upper stage. The NASA Glenn Research Center was responsible for providing this launch service in close cooperation with the U.S. Air Force (USAF), which manages the Titan IV­B program, and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the spacecraft and the overall Cassini mission.

Unlike the almost routine launches of communications satellites and the shuttles, this launch was complicated by (1) the great distance that Cassini will travel to reach Saturn (3.2 billion kilometers, or 2 billion miles), (2) the spacecraft's great complexity and size (as tall as a two-story building and heavier than a large African elephant), and (3) the special measures that were necessary to safeguard its interplanetary power source. To lift this heavy payload, the launch team used the Titan IV­B, the Nation's largest, most powerful, and newest heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle. This mammoth rocket is as tall as a 20-story building and, with the solid rocket boosters and fuel, weighs about 940,000 kilograms (2 million pounds).

This complex mission was taken on by a talented team of scientists, engineers, technicians, and other personnel from Cassini's government, international, and industry partners. NASA is ultimately responsible for Cassini's success, including the launch service. NASA Glenn was responsible for integrating the spacecraft with the launch vehicle and designing the mission-unique hardware and software modifications necessary for that integration. To support these tasks, Glenn contracted with the Lockheed Martin Corporation. Under a memorandum of agreement with NASA, the USAF procured the basic launch vehicle and launch operations. They selected Lockheed Martin as the prime contractor for the Titan IV­B program and its Centaur upper stage.