Since its launch in 1997, the Cassini spacecraft has traveled more than 3.85 billion miles. It has sent back 450 gigabytes of data, including more than 300,000 images of stormy Saturn, its majestic rings, and its rich and complicated system of moons. But perhaps the most notable number of the mission is 1: That is how many people oversee the creation of what may well be the most remarkable photo album ever assembled.
Carolyn Porco is the one. As the leader of the imaging science team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, she oversees collection and analysis of all the high-resolution pictures the spacecraft sends home. She has also done more than anyone else to spread interest in Saturn and its intricately beautiful rings and moons. She shares Cassini’s discoveries with the public through a website and in regular emails to thousands of devoted followers. Her exploratory zeal comes through on her website, where entries begin, in guileless Star Trek style, “Captain’s Log.”
