Space

NASA has extended by two years the international Cassini-Huygens mission, originally scheduled to end in July. The historic spacecraft's stunning discoveries and images have revolutionized the knowledge of Saturn and its moons. The extension, announced April 15, will include 60 more orbits of Saturn and added flybys of its exotic moons. These will include 26 flybys of Titan, seven of Enceladus and one each of Dione, Rhea and Helene. The extension includes studies of Saturn's rings, its complex magnetosphere and the planet itself. Other activities for Cassini scientists will include monitoring seasons on Titan and Saturn, observing unique ring events such as the 2009 equinox when the sun will be in the plane of the rings, and exploring new places within Saturn's magnetosphere. Cassini launched in 1997 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a seven-year journey to Saturn, traveling 3.5 billion kilometers. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and Agenzia Italiana Spaziale, the Italian space agency.

2008: NASA Extends International Cassini Mission to 2010 (Apr 17, 2008) | Protecting Space Environment Remains a Critical U.S. Interest (Apr 2, 2008) | Spaceman Placed in U.S. Mission to the EU Lobby Reminds Visitors of Successful NASA/ESA Columbus Mission (Feb 2008)

2007: Discovery Mission Readies Station for International Partner Labs (Nov 7, 2007) | October Mission To Ready Space Station for International Partners (Sep 14, 2007) | South America Satellite Coverage Limits Natural Disaster Effects (Apr 12, 2007) | International Space Station Partners Applaud Year’s Achievements (Jan 26, 2007)

The United States is committed to safeguarding and expanding the peaceful uses of space, a senior State Department official says. Speaking December 13 about the U.S. National Space Policy, Robert Joseph, the under secretary of state for arms control and international security, said the U.S. commitment to exploring and using outer space "by all nations for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all humanity” is the first principle of that policy. Updates to the policy –- the first in nearly 10 years -- were announced in October. The United States, Joseph said in remarks at the George C. Marshall Institute, will continue to lead in expanding the use of space for peaceful purposes. "Our advances in space in the fields of communication, medicine, and transportation, as well as many others, have come to benefit not just Americans, but all of mankind, including citizens of countries that have not yet ventured into space," said Joseph.

2006: Satellite Launch Is Milestone in U.S.-European Cooperation (Oct 16, 2006) | Cassini Mission Reveals Saturn's Moon has Earthly Features (Jul 24, 2006) | NASA Welcomes European Space Station Module (Jun 5, 2006) | International Partners Predict Space Station Completion by 2010 (Mar 3, 2006)

2005: U.S.-European Mission Lands Craft on Saturn Moon Titan (Jan 14, 2005) | U.S., European Space Mission to Study Supermassive Black Holes (Jan 14, 2005)

2004: Euro Space Agency Completes New Module for International Station (Aug 31, 2004) | Mars Rover Sends Pictures to European Space Agency Orbiter (Aug 11, 2004) | Cassini Finds Lightning, New Radiation Belt at Saturn (Aug 6, 2004) | Saturn Moon Phoebe Is Icy Rock from Edge of Solar System (Jun 25, 2004)