Titan Flyby - March 200617 Mar 2006 Only 19 days after Titan-11, Cassini returns to Titan for its thirteenth targeted encounter. The closest approach to Titan occurs on Sunday, 19 March, at 00:06 UT at an altitude of 1951 km above the surface and at a speed of 5.8 kilometres per second. The latitude at closest approach is 0° (equator) and the encounter occurs on orbit number 22.
This encounter is set up with two manoeuvres: an apoapsis manoeuvre that was scheduled for 5 March, and an approach manoeuvre, scheduled for 15 March. However, the apoapsis manoeuvre was so small that it was cancelled. This inbound encounter occurs about 2 days prior to Saturn closest approach.
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| Time UTC | Time wrt Titan-12 | Activity |
| 00:35:00 | -07d 23h | Start of Sequence S19 which contains Titan-12 |
15 March 2006
| Time UTC | Time wrt Titan-12 | Activity |
| 22:50:00 | -03d 01h | OTM #55 Prime, Titan-12 minus 3 day targeting manoeuvre |
16 March 2006
| Time UTC | Time wrt Titan-12 | Activity |
| 22:50:00 | -02d 01h | OTM #55 Backup |
18 March 2006
| Time UTC | Time wrt Titan-12 | Activity |
| 07:49:00 | -16h 16m | Start of the TOST segment |
| 08:19:00 | -15h 46m | Turn cameras to Titan |
| 08:19:00 | -15h 46m | Deadtime, used to accommodate changes in flyby time |
| 08:41:00 | -15h 24m | Infrared (IR) global mapping; search for and characterize clouds |
| 10:05:00 | -14h 00m | IR limb stare; stratospheric studies; obtain information on CO, HCN, CH4 |
| 17:05:00 | -07h 00m | Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) global map; global mosaic looking for cloud activity |
| 20:55:00 | -03h 10m | Transition to thrusters; 22 min duration |
| 21:16:00 | -02h 49m | Visible & IR Regional map; characterize geologic features, haze, and composition of Titan's equatorial region |
| 22:40:00 | -01h 25m | Radio Science (RSS) bistatic; determine physical properties of Titan's surface |
| 23:56:00 | -00h 09m | Titan wake crossing |
| 23:59:00 | -00h 06m | RSS atmospheric occultation; understand atmospheric and ionospheric structure |
19 March 2006
| Time UTC | Time wrt Titan-12 | Activity |
| 00:05:57 | +00h 00m | Titan-12 flyby closest approach time; altitude=1951 km, speed=6.0 kms-1, 148° phase at closest approach |
| 01:02:57 | +00h 57m | Transition back to reaction wheels; 21 min duration |
| 01:24:00 | +01h 19m | RADAR scatterometry and radiometry; surface composition and roughness measurements |
| 05:35:00 | +05h 30m | Visible & IR observations of dark side; cloud and aurorae search; WAC photometry |
| 12:25:00 | +12h 20m | Far IR limb stare; obtain information on CO, HCN, CH4 |
| 14:06:00 | +14h 01m | Deadtime, used to accommodate changes in flyby time |
| 14:22:00 | +14h 17m | Turn to Earth-Line |
| 14:44:00 | +14h 39m | Begin playback of Titan-12 data, Madrid 70M |
20 March 2006
| Time UTC | Time wrt Titan-12 | Activity |
| 00:04:00 | +23h 59m | End playback of Titan-12 data |
| 19:57:00 | +01d 20h | Saturn Periapsis |
Last Update: 26 Jul 2006
