NASA Extends Cassini's Tour Of Saturn For Two More Years

Pasadena, CA (AHN) - The U.S. space agency NASA says it is extending the international Cassini mission touring Saturn and its moons for another two years. Announcing the extension on Tuesday, the space agency said the will allow Cassini to make 60 more revolutions around the ringed planet and fly by its largest moon, Titan, and four other satellites.

Since 2004, the unmanned probe has captured about 140,000 images. Cassini's mission originally had been scheduled to end in July 2008.

The newly-announced $160 million extension by two years will include 26 flybys of Titan, seven of Enceladus, and one each of Dione, Rhea and Helene. The extension also includes studies of Saturn's rings, its complex magnetosphere, and the planet itself.

"This extension is not only exciting for the science community, but for the world to continue to share in unlocking Saturn's secrets," said Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington in a press release.

"New discoveries are the hallmarks of its success, along with the breathtaking images beamed back to Earth that are simply mesmerizing."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. Its original cost was $3.3 billion including $2.6 billion from the United States.