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Explore Saturn

Glide past Saturn’s golden clouds and shimmering rings, where a six-sided polar storm and hushed, sprawling magnetosphere reveal the planet’s silent might.

1.4B km
Distance from Sun
~120,500 km
Diameter
-178°C
Temperature
10,759 days
Year Length

Physical Characteristics

Surface Composition

Saturn—like Jupiter—lacks a solid surface. Its visible “surface” is a sea of gas, mainly hydrogen and helium, that gradually becomes liquid under crushing pressure.

Hydrogen ~96%
Helium ~3%

Atmosphere

Saturn’s atmosphere is dominated by hydrogen and helium, tinted by trace methane, ammonia, and water vapor. Its cloud tops host jet streams and storms, including a vast six-sided vortex at the north pole.

Hydrogen (H₂) ~96.3%
Helium (He) ~3.25%

Gravity

Despite its enormous size, Saturn’s low density gives it a surface gravity only slightly stronger than Earth’s. A 100 kg person on Earth would weigh about 107 kg on Saturn.

Earth
100 kg
Saturn
107 kg
Gravity is 1.07× Earth’s (10.44 m/s²)

Day Length

Saturn spins rapidly, completing one rotation in about 10 hours 33 minutes.

24h
10h 33m
Saturn rotates more than twice as fast as Earth.

Atmospheric Phenomena

Saturn’s North Polar Hexagon
Feature:
North Polar Hexagon
Saturn has no solid surface — all observed features exist within its atmosphere.

Notable Atmospheric Features

North Polar Hexagon

A persistent six-sided jet-stream vortex at Saturn’s north pole, spanning ~30,000 km across.

Winds reach ≈ 320 km/h.

Great White Spot

A planet-encircling storm that erupts roughly once every Saturn year (~30 Earth years), brightening the cloud tops.

Last major event: 2010–2011.

Auroras

Glowing ovals near the poles, generated as solar-charged particles spiral along Saturn’s powerful magnetic field.

Ultraviolet and infrared displays visible to Cassini.

Saturn’s Moons

Saturn boasts 146 known moons, yet a few major satellites—led by Titan—are especially remarkable.

Titan

Titan

Diameter
5 150 km (3 200 mi)
Orbital Period
15.9 days (382 h)
Distance from Saturn
1 221 870 km (759 000 mi)

Titan is the only moon with a dense nitrogen atmosphere and liquid methane-ethane lakes on its surface.

Enceladus

Enceladus

Diameter
504 km (313 mi)
Orbital Period
1.37 days (32.9 h)
Distance from Saturn
238 040 km (148 000 mi)

Cryovolcanic jets spew water ice and organics from a subsurface ocean—making Enceladus a prime astrobiology target.

Rhea

Rhea

Diameter
1 528 km (949 mi)
Orbital Period
4.52 days (108 h)
Distance from Saturn
527 108 km (327 000 mi)

Rhea may possess faint rings and shows bright wispy terrain—evidence of past tectonic activity.

Iapetus

Iapetus

Diameter
1 469 km (913 mi)
Orbital Period
79.3 days (1 901 h)
Distance from Saturn
3 560 000 km (2 210 000 mi)

Iapetus’ striking two-tone surface and equatorial ridge give it a “yin-yang” appearance unlike any other moon.

Orbital Period Comparison

Origin Theory

Saturn’s inner moons likely formed from the planet’s sub-nebula, while some small outer moons are captured objects.

Future Exploration

NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft (launching 2028) will fly across Titan’s surface to study its prebiotic chemistry and habitability.

Saturn Exploration History

1970s
First Flyby
1980s
Grand Tour
2000s
Orbiter + Lander
Pioneer 11

Pioneer 11

1979 Flyby

First spacecraft to encounter Saturn; revealed a new ring, measured the magnetic field, and imaged cloud tops and moons.

Flyby NASA
Voyager 1

Voyager 1

1980 Flyby

Studied Saturn’s rings in detail and performed the only close pass of Titan until Cassini; refined measurements of atmosphere and magnetic field.

Flyby NASA
Voyager 2

Voyager 2

1981 Flyby

Complemented Voyager 1’s observations, discovered several small moons, and captured high-resolution images of ring spokes and atmospheric vortices.

Flyby NASA
Cassini–Huygens

Cassini – Huygens

2004 – 2017 Orbiter + 2005 Titan Lander

First Saturn orbiter; mapped rings, moons, and magnetosphere. The Huygens probe landed on Titan, returning the first—and so far only—images from the surface of an outer-solar-system world.

Orbiter Lander NASA / ESA / ASI
No missions available for this category.

Current Saturn Missions

No Active or En-Route Missions

As of 2025, there are no spacecraft currently operating at Saturn. The most recent mission, Cassini–Huygens, ended with a planned plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere on September 15 2017.

Stay tuned: NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft is slated to launch in 2028 and arrive at Titan in 2034—but for now, Saturn’s skies are silent.

Future Saturn Exploration

Upcoming Missions

Dragonfly

Launch 2028 → Titan 2034

A nuclear-powered octocopter that will hop across Titan, sampling surface organics and assessing prebiotic chemistry and habitability.

NASA New Frontiers 4 mission

Enceladus Orbilander

Early 2040s*

Flagship mission recommended by the 2023 Planetary Decadal Survey: orbit Enceladus for plume sampling, then land to search for biosignatures in surface ice.

*Concept under study—schedule contingent on funding

Saturn Atmospheric Probe

2030s Proposal

A NASA-ESA concept for a one-hour descent through Saturn’s cloud tops, directly measuring noble gases and isotopic ratios to constrain planet formation models.

Entry probe delivered by carrier-relay spacecraft

Long-Term Visions

Beyond approved or actively studied missions, scientists envision bold ventures for the 2040s – 2050s era:

  • Titan Submarine to explore the methane–ethane seas of Kraken Mare and measure ocean depth and composition.
  • Enceladus Sample Return capturing plume ice grains for return to Earth-based biosignature labs.
  • Saturn Polar Orbiter & Ring Skimmer for high-inclination mapping of the rings’ microstructure and seasonal storm evolution.
  • Haze-Riding Balloons drifting in Saturn’s upper atmosphere to profile temperature, winds and trace-gas chemistry over months.

Challenges & Solutions

Cryogenic Temperatures

Titan and Enceladus operate at –180 °C to –200 °C, stressing batteries, lubricants and structural materials.

Potential Solutions:
  • RHUs / MMRTGs for constant heat
  • Low-temperature electronics & aerogels
  • Active thermal cycling during cruise

Ring Collision Hazards

Navigating the dense and dusty ring plane poses impact risks to orbiters and carrier spacecraft.

Potential Solutions:
  • High-inclination approach trajectories
  • Forward dust-shielding whipple panels
  • Real-time stellar-occultation mapping of ring density

Low Solar Power

At 9.5 AU the Sun’s intensity is only ~1 % of Earth’s, challenging solar-powered spacecraft.

Potential Solutions:
  • Next-gen MMRTGs for continuous watt-level power
  • High-efficiency, very-large-area solar arrays
  • Hybrid power with advanced Li-S batteries

Saturn Image Gallery

The Day the Earth Smiled

The Day the Earth Smiled

Cassini looked back from Saturn’s shadow, capturing the back-lit rings and a faint blue Earth 1.4 billion km away.

North-Polar Hexagon

North-Polar Hexagon

A six-sided jet-stream vortex encircling the pole with 320 km/h winds, imaged in enhanced colour by Cassini.

Great White Spot (2010)

Great White Spot (2010)

AA planet-spanning storm that erupts roughly once each Saturn year, wrapping the globe in bright turbulent clouds.

Blue South-Pole Vortex

Blue South-Pole Vortex

Ultraviolet views reveal a striking sapphire cyclone swirling over Saturn’s south pole.

Daphnis Carving the Keeler Gap

Daphnis Carving the Keeler Gap

The tiny moon Daphnis sculpts scalloped waves along the A-ring’s edge, showing ring-moon dynamics in action.

Enceladus Plume Jets

Enceladus Plume Jets

Geysers of water-ice and organics erupt from “tiger-stripe” fractures, hinting at a subsurface ocean.

Titan & the Rings

Titan & the Rings

Hazy orange Titan drifts before Saturn’s rings, its thick atmosphere silhouetted against the planet.

Ultraviolet Ring Mosaic

Ultraviolet Ring Mosaic

A false-colour UV composite highlights changes in ring particle size and composition.