Abstract

More than 35 years ago, a small group of scientists in Europe met with American counterparts to discuss what might be done to explore jointly the outer planets – in particular Saturn, its rings and moons. At the time, Europe did not have plans to explore the solar system at all. Indeed, many wanted to keep it that way. Nonetheless, in what seems now a very short time, 6 years later, it was agreed that Europe and the US would jointly perform a grand mission, Cassini-Huygens to Saturn and its major moon, Titan with Europe building Huygens, the Titan lander. In 2017 almost 20 years after Cassini-Huygens was launched to Saturn the programme finally ended with the Cassini mothership deliberately diving into the Saturn atmosphere. The history of the programme and its highs and lows will be outlined. Tickets are £2 or free for members. Annual membership (£7) and life membership (£12) can also be purchased at the event – please bring cash. The talk will be followed by refreshments outside the lecture theatre.

The talk will be at the usual location of Wolfson lecture theatre in the Department of Chemistry. The entrance is the opposite side of the building to Bristol-Myers-Squibb Lecture theatre and is opposite the car park- shown by the red arrow on the map. https://map.cam.ac.uk/Department+of+Chemistry#52.197964,0.125242,18