14 April 2004 marks the 375th anniversary of the birth of the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, one of the leading European scientist of the 17th century, who discovered Saturn«s rings and its largest moon, Titan.
Exploration of Saturn and its satellites is the main objective of the joint ESA/NASA mission Cassini/Huygens. The spacecraft will arrive at Saturn on 1 july and the Huygens probe will descend into the atmosphere of Titan in January next year.
Cassini/Huygens is the first mission to enter an orbit around Saturn and it will visit during its four-year mission the ring system and the most interesting moons, most of them serveral times.
This programme provide extensive coverage of the Cassini-Huygens mission including Saturn orbit insertion and the descent and landing on Titan. This programme also features along with the overview ot the mission, some historical material on the contemporary astronomers Christian Huygens and Giovanni Cassini.
The programme includes an A-Roll of five minute (split

Cassini-Huygens closing in
10:00:40
The Sun our Earth, the planets and their natural satellitesÉ two seventeenth century European scientists devoted much of their lives observing the heavenly bodies.
10:00:53
Today Jean-Dominique CassiniÉ and Christiaan Huygens are honoured as the space mission bearing their names is about to start the most detailed observations ever made of Saturn and its giant moon, Titan.
10:01:07
Since GalileoÕs discovery of the Òear-shapedÓ protrusions, astronomers had searched for an explanation for the varying appearance of the giant planet. Huygens was the first to understand the true nature of these rings.
10:01:23
Jean-Dominique Cassini, to whom Louis XIV had entrusted the direction of the Paris Observatory, discovered the wide gap in this ring system. He also identified four of SaturnÕs smaller moons.
10:01:38
Patiently noting over the months what they saw through their advanced telescopes, both men rivalled in their observations of this second largest planet.