See Saturn's spongy moon in new light

Washington, June 1: Expect to see some stunning images of Hyperion - Saturn’s odd, tumbling moon - soon as SA’s Cassini spacecraft made its fil fly-by of the spongy moon on Sunday. According to the US space agency, the Cassini spacecraft was positioned at a distance of about 34,000 km from Hyperion. Mission scientists hope to see different terrain on Hyperion than the mission has previously explored during the encounter. The 168-mile or 267-km wide Hyperion rotates chaotically, tumbling unpredictably through space as it orbits Saturn. The moons’ body has a very low density and weak gravitatiol field, making a close fly-by easier than with other moons. Its low density makes Hyperion quite porous, with weak surface gravity. So far, most of Cassini’s previous fly-bys have encountered more or less the same familiar side of the odd moon. The Cassini mission was launched in 2004 to study Saturn and its moons. (IANS)