Titan Calling

Last june, scientists were thrilled when NASA´s Cassini probe successfully began orbiting Saturn after a 3.5-billion kilometer, seven-year journey across the solar system. The 6-ton spacecraft immediately started returning spectacular pictures of the planet, its rings, and its 30-plus moons. It was just the beginning of Cassini´s four-year tour of Saturn´s neighborhood, and while scientists expect amazing discoveries in the years to come, the most dramatic chapter in the mission´s history will happen this January, when scientists attempt to peek beneath the atmospheric veil that surrounds Saturn´s largest moon, Titan - a chapter that might have ended in disaster, save for one persistent engineer.