University of Arizona

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Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) Cassini Orbiter Instrument records

Cassini Orbiter publications and graphics

The Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) was an instrument on the Cassini-Huygens space research mission, which has shared the wonders of Saturn and its family of icy moons for nearly 20 years. VIMS collected both light that is visible to humans and infrared light of slightly longer wavelengths, and separated the light into its various wavelengths, enabling scientists to learn about the composition of materials from which the light is reflected or emitted. Scientists used VIMS to determine the content and temperatures of atmospheres, rings, and surfaces in the Saturn system. Cassini was a joint endeavor of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian space agency (ASI). The Primary Investigator for VIMS is Bob Brown of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona.

The collection includes the original proposal to NASA in 1990, records related to the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby Mission (CRAF) sister mission which was cancelled in the early 1990s, carefully selected correspondence, documents, reports, instrument design and calibration specifications, and some publications and graphics. There are also many presentations from a Science Team Meeting held in Tucson in February 2003.