Nov. 30, 2004 — The Cassini spacecraft spent Thanksgiving week not only a long way from its home planet, but also from its newly adopted world, Saturn, having sailed out to the farthest point in its orbit in preparation for its next tour of the ringed planet's largest moon.

Since its arrival on July 1, Cassini has taken unprecedented pictures of Saturn's rings and completed one long looping orbit to position itself for its first close encounter with Titan, the second-largest moon in the solar system and the only one with a thick atmosphere.

That flyby, in October, left scientists puzzling over odd surface features and deepened the mystery about Titan's geography. Scientists believe Titan may contain liquid oceans of methane, ethane or other hydrocarbons, an organic stew that may resemble primordial Earth.

As Cassini soared closer to Saturn, it snapped pictures of the moons Enceladus, Dione, Rhea and Tethys, as well as more images of the rings, including one released this week which Cassini took as it passed through the slice of the sky in which the rings orbit. The unusual perspective features a shadow cast by the planet's atmosphere on the surface of the rings.

On the outbound leg of its journey in early November, Cassini flew by the tiny moon Mimas. Scientists this week released a stunning picture from that encounter, with Mimas sparkling against Saturn's blue-streaked and shadowed northern hemisphere.

Scientists are eagerly anticipating Cassini's next dance among Saturn's orbital entourage, including a Dec. 13 flyby of Titan.

"In just two weeks, we dive in for another scraping encounter with Titan, more close views of the rings, and a passage by Dione closer than we've ever been," said Carolyn Porco, head of the Cassini imaging team. "This is life in orbit around Saturn and it is good."

During its upcoming tour, Cassini will release a piggyback probe built by the European Space Agency for an independent and one-time study of Titan.

Spacecraft controllers last week completed the 16th and final in-flight checkout of the Huygens probe, which is to make a parachute descent to the surface of Titan on Jan. 14. Cassini is expected to release the probe on Dec. 25.