Picture Releases Become More Frequent as Cassini Nears Juipter

Picture Releases Become More Frequent as Cassini Nears Juipter

December 18, 2000

Contact:


Guy Webster, JPL, (818) 354-6278


Lori Stiles, University of Arizona, (520) 626-4402

A striking color picture showing mottled cloud patterns near Jupiter's
north pole begins a sequence of more frequent release of Jupiter images
from NASA's Cassini spacecraft as the craft gets nearer to the planet over
the next two weeks.

The picture of how cloud patterns at high latitude differ from the
familiar horizontal bands around Jupiter's middle is available from NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/jupiter

and from the web site of the Cassini Imaging Science team at
the University of Arizona, Tucson, at:

http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/.

The imaging team and JPL plan to release pictures almost daily from now
through Cassini's closest approach to Jupiter, on Dec. 30. The images will
likely include shots of Jupiter's moons and rings, as well as its clouds.
They will be available at the web sites given above. Cassini is already
close enough to Jupiter to return higher-resolution images than possible
with the planetary camera of NASA's Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

Cassini will use a boost from Jupiter's gravity to reach its ultimate
destination, Saturn. While near Jupiter, it is studying that planet in
collaboration with NASA's Galileo spacecraft, which has been orbiting
Jupiter since Dec. 7, 1995. More information on the joint Cassini-Galileo
observations is available at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jupiterflyby.

Additional information about Cassini is available online at:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and
the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the Cassini and Galileo missions for
NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Media Relations Office

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

California Institute of Technology

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Pasadena, Calif. 91109.

Telephone (818) 354-5011