ANN ARBOR—Four faculty from the University of Michigan College of Engineering have been leading scientists on the Cassini-Huygens mission since it began and are available to answer media questions.

Tonight, the Cassini spacecraft is scheduled to enter the rings of Saturn for a four-year tour of the planet and some if its moons.

U-M researchers involved in the project will be in Pasadena, Calif., during Cassini’s entry into Saturn’s orbit. Now through Sunday (July 4), the faculty can be reached at the Ritz-Carlton. Huntington Hotel, Pasadena, (626) 568-3900.Or contact Carolina Martinez at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, (818) 354-9382. They can be reached in their offices beginning July 6.

The faculty:

Tamas Gombosi, chair and professor, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Science (AOSS); professor, aerospace engineering; and director, Space Physics Research Laboratory. He is an expert on the plasma environment in Saturn’s magnetosphere and a member of the lead scientific group for the mission.   He can be reached at (734) 764-7222 or tamas@umich.edu.

Tamas Gombosi’s faculty profile >

J. Hunter Waite, professor, AOSS. He is the team leader of the Cassini ion and neutral mass spectrometer investigation and also a member of the project science group. He can be reached at (734) 647-3435 or hunterw@umich.edu.

J. Hunter Waite’s faculty profile >

Andrew Nagy, professor, AOSS and electrical engineering. He is co-investigator of the Cassini plasma and neutral gas experiments and a member of the radio science team. He can be reached at (734) 764-6592 or anagy@umich.edu.

Andrew Nagy’s faculty profile >

Sushil Atreya, professor, AOSS. He is co-investigator of the Huygens mass spectrometer and a member of the Huygens science and experiment team. He can be reached at (734) 936-0489 or atreya@umich.edu.

Sushil Atreya’s faculty profile >

Information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, including a press kit, is available at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/index.cfm

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/inst-cassini-inms-details.cfm

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/huygens-mission.cfm

The U-M College of Engineering is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, and is consistently ranked among the top engineering schools in the world. The college is comprised of 11 academic departments: aerospace engineering; atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences; biomedical engineering; chemical engineering; civil and environmental engineering; electrical engineering and computer science; industrial and operations engineering; materials science and engineering; mechanical engineering; naval architecture and marine engineering; and nuclear engineering and radiological sciences. Each year the college enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students and grants about 1,200 undergraduate degrees and 800 master’s and doctoral degrees.   To learn more, visit: www.engin.umich.edu

Contacts: Mary Nehls-Frumkin, (734) 763-7305, or maryln@umich.edu

or

Laura Bailey, (734) 647-7087 or (734) 647-1848, baileylm@umich.edu.

tamas@umich.eduhunterw@umich.eduanagy@umich.eduatreya@umich.eduSushil Atreya’s faculty profile >http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfmhttp://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/index.cfm