Blond, blue-eyed, determined sportsmen and women are glaring down from giant billboards in Moscow, promoting a luxury housing complex for the upcoming 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia and this has some people worried.
In response to complaints, Doping-Pong, the ad agency that created the campaign, denied claims that their Aryan-like avatars are Nazi-inspired.
When the ads went up, anarchist art collective Voina tweeted of the billboard’s “openly fascist style” and superstar wonderkid designer Artemy Lebedev said it looked both “neo-Hitlerite” and “neo-Stalinist” but, ahem, “creative.” Not helping: Doping-Pong employs an openly ultra-right artist Katya Zashtopik who blogged Hitler a Happy Birthday this year and there are swastikas on some of their other projects.
Granted, if Shepard Fairey can build his career off Soviet Constructivist art, Nazi propaganda art can be visual fodder, but really, guys… With neo-Nazis, skinheads and racist nationalists rioting and spewing hate all over the former USSR, let’s draw a big fat line between acceptable Nazi kitsch and this Aryan ad nonsense.
Anyway, these billboards look tacky.
Fuck yeah! Not a brown thing is sight!
Oh no! Not two white people! It must be anti everything else for sure.
Xenophobia time. Why don’t we just kill whitey and admit that there is blatent racism against white people now? Are we that PC that we stll deny that?
Well, a small group of them invented racism and larger numbers of them bought into it. So it may not be the fairest thing in the world, but you can't exactly complain about it.
Big fuckin' deal
If you lived in Russia or have any idea what "xenophobia" means over there, raise your hand.
“Invented racism”. That’s funny. Tee hee. And the other part of your post esentially says racism is OK in certain situations. Nice! That always ends well. See line below.
Stalin and the Checka would have thrown the two in that poster in the Kolyma for what they look like as well. He was a swarthy Georgian that hated fair skinned folk.
Yes, race is a social construct, and using it to judge a person was introduced to the world by the British. And though racism is never right, in that it is based on a fallacy, the results can't always be complained about. Considering that a group of people in our current society have a significantly higher quality of life as direct result of racist views. My point being that complaining makes you sound like a punk as bitch for crying about some shit that doesn't come close to affecting you the way it affects others.
That is just your cis opinion. Oppressed trans opinions like that tabula rasa is a disproven myth beg to differ.
Look at the two statues in the background. They're both giving the "Nazi salute"
WHITE PEOPLE!!!! YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!
awak ingat saya ni tunggul kayu ke ha? ” tak pe lah, orang dah ngatuk ni. Dia adalah perempuan yang tidak patut you kenali dengan lebih rapat.Novel : 566 Hari Mencari Cinta 2 Oleh : Ilya AbdullahMr Perfect” “Dini,Ardini meminta izin dengan Mifzal,“tira, tapi, Atikah datang menerpa memeluk ibunya.
“oooo??.begitu Nanti aku tolong buatkan Tapi bila kau mahukan benda ni” “Kau boleh siapkan dalam masa dua minggu” “InsyaAllah Aku akan cuba sebaik mungkin” “Terima kasih Iza Aku Balik dululah Sampaikan salam aku kat mak kau” “Tak minum dulu ke Rahim” “Tak payahlah susah-susah Dah nak masuk waktu ni Eloklah aku balik dulu Assalammualaikum” “Waalaikummussalam” Rahim pun mula mengayuh basikalnya menuju ke rumah usangnya Rahim mandi dan terus mengerjakan solat Maghrib Usai solat dia pun memanjatkan doa ke hadrat ilahi agar semua yang dicita-citakannya menjadi nyata Selepas melipat sejadah Rahim pun menuju ke dapur dan memasak untuk makan malamnya Setiap hari dia akan makan sayur pucuk paku dan ikan kembung masin Dia tidak pernah pun berasa muak biarpun dia mampu membeli ikan segar mahupun ayam dan daging Baginya sayur pucuk paku masak belacan dan ikan masin lebih sedap berbanding kari ayam Apabila masuk masuk waktu Isya?? Rahim pun segera bangkit dan mengambil wuduk untuk mengerjakan solat fardhu Selesai mengerjakan solat Rahim duduk berehat di ruang tamu sambil menonton rancangan yang disiarkan di televisyen Apabila matanya mula terasa berat Rahim mengatur kemas langkahnya menuju ke kamar tidur Keesokkan harinya Rahim melangkah cepat menuju ke jetitempat di mana dia mengikat sampannya Hari Sabtu begini Rahim biasanya menjala ikan di kuala sungai Awal pagi lagi dia sudah mula menghayun langkahnya sambil menjinjing jala Biasanya Rahim akan balik ke rumah menjelang petang Dan hasilnya akan diborong di kedai basah Ah Kiong atau dijaja ke kampung “Assalammualaikum” Iza memberi salam di depan rumah Rahim “Waalaikumsalam” “Iza Awal pagi kau sampai ni Apahal Rindu kat aku ke” Rahim sempat juga berseloroh “Hek eleh?? Takde maknenye aku rindu kat kau Ini kertas kerja yang kau suruh aku buat tu” Iza pun menyerahkan fail biru kepada Rahim Rahim sekadar tersengih-sengih “Bila kau mau buat pinjaman” Iza mula menyoal “Aku rasa Rabu ni lah kalau tak ada aral melintang Kalau dilambat-lambatkan peluang lari nanti Tuhan tak suka umat-Nya melengah-lengahkan kerja” Rahim bersuara “Eloklah tu Rahim Semoga kau berjaya Aku yakin kau mampu buat” Iza meluahkan bicara “Aku balik dululah Rahim Nanti mak sorang-sorang kat rumah” Iza pun mengatur langkah cepat menuju ke rumahnya Rahim sekadar memerhatikan lentuk lenggok Iza yang semakin menghilang daripada pandangannya Hari Rabu pun menjelmakan wajah cerianya Rahim bersiap-siap untuk menuju ke bandar yang berdekatan Dia menaiki bas yang sentiasa berulang-alik dari kampungnya menuju ke bandar Saratok Perjalanan dari pekan Sungai Pinang ke bandar Saratok memakan masa satu jam Sesampainya di bandar Saratok Rahim mengatur langkah menuju ke Bank PertanianRahim menyatakan bahawa dia ingin membuat pinjaman untuk mengusahakan penanaman padi secara moden sebanyak RM 80000 Dia menyerahkan kertas kerjanya dan pekerja di situ memintanya menunggu dalam masa seminggu untuk mendapatkan keputusannya Setelah pinjamannya diluluskan Rahim segera memaklumkan kepada Pak Samad Pak Samad pun membenarkan Rahim menyewa tanahnya untuk mengerjakan apa yang dihajatinya Tanah pak Samad amatlah sesuai untuk menanam padi Ini kerana tanah Pak Samad terletak di pinggiran sungai Oleh yang demikian tanah tersebut bukanlah jenis keras bahkan tanah tersebut sentiasa lembab Rahim mula mencari pembekal jentera pembajak dan jentera untuk menabur benih padi Mujurlah Ah Hong mengenali beberapa pembekal berkenaan dan dia memberikan nombor telefon mereka kepada RahimRahim menghubungi seorang demi seorang untuk memastikan dia mendapat jentera yang bermutu dengan harga yang rendah Keesokan harinya Rahim menuju ke kota dan berjumpa dengan En Daud untuk membeli jentera berkenaan Setelah persetujuan diambil oleh kedua-dua belah pihak En Daud memberitahu Rahim yang dia akan menghantar empat buah jentera itu pada minggu hadapan Sebelum jentera itu sampai Rahim mengupah anak muda kampung itu untuk membersihkan kawasan tanah berkenaan Sementara itu Rahim menuju ke Pejabat Pertanian untuk mendapatkan benih padi yang baik dan baja yang sesuai Hasil usaha Rahim dalam beberapa bulan maka terbentang menghijau padi di sawahnya Sungguh luas Orang kampung mula membuka mata dan mula mengaku bahawa usaha dan kesungguhan akan mampu membuahkan hasil daripada perkara yang kita fikir mustahil Orang kampungnya mula memberi semangat kepada Rahim agar jangan mudah berputus asa Penghulu kampung juga turut berbangga melihat hasil usaha gigih Rahim yang tidak pernah mengaku kalah akan cita-citanya dulu Namun di sebalik kebanggaan orang kampung terhadap Rahim Rashid pula mula menyimpan dendam Dia tidak berpuas hati akan usaha yang Rahim kerjakan “Jangan kau fikir kau berjaya Rahim Tunggulah apa yang akan terjadi dengan cita-cita kau itu Pergi mampuslah dengan angan-angan Mat jenin kau tu” Rashid berbisik sambil tangannya mencekak pinggang Rashid mula mengatur rancangan untuk membakar kawasan sawah padi Rahim Dia mengajak Usup dan Idris untuk mengatur rencana agar semua usaha Rahim itu menjadi sia-sia Usup dan Idris teragak-agak untuk menjayakan rencana Rashid Mereka berdua amat berbangga akan usaha gigih yang telah Rahim usahakan Namun mereka berdua berada dalam dilema kerana Rashid adalah kawan baik mereka sejak kecil lagi Setelah rencana diatur Rashid Usup dan Idris pun bergerak menuju ke kawasan sawah padi Rahim Idris dan Usup mula menyimbah minyak tanah ke kawasan sekitar sawah padi manakala Rashid pula menuju ke pondok di mana jentera Rahim ditempatkan Rashid ingin merosakkan jentera Rahim “Siaplah engkau Rahim Aku akan rosakkan robot engkau ini” Rashid berbisik sendiri “Macam mana nak rosakkan benda ini Aku tak pernah sentuh pun benda ni Nak pancitkan tayar besilah pulak Enjin ni macam mana nak tengok” Rashid mengguman sambil menggaru kepalanya yang tidak gatal Dia pun mengambil keputusan menuju ke kawasan di mana Usup dan Idris berada “kau sudah rosakkan ke mesin tu” Idris bertanya “Nak robohkan macam mana Aku mana reti Aku ingat macam kereta ke motosikal ke…kalau tak boleh rosakkan enjin aku pancitkan sajalah tayarnya Tapi takda tayarlah pulak” Rashid bersuara dengan nada yang geram “Hahaha…Nak jadi jahatlah konon” Usup bersuara Usup dan Idris pun mula ketawa dengan kuatnya Pak Samad yang kebetulan melalui kawasan berkenaan terdengan suara orang ketawa dari sawah padi Rahim Dia pun mengatur langkah perlahan-lahan dan penuh berjaga-jaga Apabila menghampiran kawasan berkenaan Pak Samad melihat Rashid Idris dan Usup menyimbah sesuatu ke atas padi-padi Rahim Pak samad dapat menghidu dengan jelas bau minyak tanah tersebut Pak samad mula dapat mengagak niat jahat mereka bertiga dan mengatur langkah menuju ke rumah orang kampung yang terdekat untuk memaklumkan perkara berkenaan sebelum apa-apa terjadi sehingga Rahim sendiri sampai “Abu…Abu…” Pak Samad menjerit kuat “Apahal ni Samad Kenapa termengah-mengah ni” “Rashid dan kawannya mahu bakar sawah Rahim tu” “Apa!”,“Ya, tapi selama ini dengan saya kenapa wak mengaku yang awak masih solo?diya nak beritahu something nie. Memberikan penjelasannya kerana meninggalkan aku dahulu. Siapakah Adrin ini? Tapi masih susah nak terpejam terus kerana cahaya lampu yang masih terang. Aku nak test motor aku.Kalau dengan staff lelaki dia okey takkan dengan girl cam kau ni dia asyik hamuk je?
Laila menyembur keluar isi hatinya terhadap Sakinah.“Rilekslah, Betu-betul di bawah terik matahari. Berbunga sakura kecil berwarna oren.” “Baik kau fikir masak-masak.” pinta Tan Sri Saifuddin. jerit Mel yang menggelupur kerana dijilat api yang segera marak. Tu yang aku berlari macam tak cukup tanah.!” terang Jeremy Di saat itu kesemua orang yang berada di dalam rumah itu terkejut apabila terpandang satu lembaga hitam yang sedang berjalan ke arah rumah tersebut Kelam-kabut Kamil cuba menutup pintu tetapi seakan di halang oleh suatu kuasa ghaib Hamdan awal-awal lagi berlari ke arah dapur meninggalkan Jeremy dan Kamil di ruang hadapan Kamil tak mahu tunggu lagi Dia menarik tangan Jeremy dan berlari ke tingkat atas Terjatuh-jatuh Jeremy menaiki tangga rumah batu dua tingkat itu Mereka menyorok dalam bilik utama tanpa bantuan sebarang cahaya Di dalam hati Kamil berdoa agar dia terlepas dari buruan makhluk itu“Arghhhh.!”dalam kutukan Adam tetap terselit nasihat buat Haris.Memanglah aku tak suka cara dia tapi.entahlahkompleks sangat aku nak cakapAku tak lupalah pasal spm tuHarap-harap sempatlah aku nak spm ek”“ermmmasuk fasa baik dowh”Getus hati Adam“ErrAbang HarisNaj ada surat nak bagi kat Abang Haris”Muka Najwa kemerahan apabila dia tersipu-sipu seperti ituorangnya putih melepakTerserlah kecantikkannya apabila tersipu-sipu maluMata yang bundarbibir yang merah bak delimakeningnya yang cantik terbentuk dan lesung pipit yang sentiasa menghiasi senyuman manisnyaSenyuman yang mampu membuatkan jejaka terpukau dengannya“Ermmokay”Surat itu lalu diselitkan didalam poket kemeja pengawasnyaRamai pelajar junior melihat adegan ituMuka Haris langsung tidak berperasaan ketika ituBunyi loceng menandakan tamatnya waktu rehatBergegas Haris pulang ke kelasMalam yang dihiasi dengan bintang yang berkelipan didada langit sungguh cantik sekaliSedang Haris menghayati keindahan Yang Maha Esadia teringatkan surat yang diterima daripada NajwaSegera surat itu dicapai lalu membacanya“Masya-Allah”spontan keluar khalimat Yang Maha EsaSerta merta warkah itu terlepas daripada genggaman HarisBergenang air mata seorang HarisHampir menitis air mata seorang lelaki Di keheningan malamterdengar sayup-sayup suara serak basah yang sedang mengalunkan ayat-ayat suci Al-QuranInilah ketenangan yang dicarinya“Ya Allah Ya TuhankuYa Rahman Ya Rahimdengarkanlah doa hambamu yang hina iniKau berikanlah hidayah buat sahabatku ituTidak pernah terlintas di hatiku perkara ini berlakuYa Allahbukalah pintu hatinya untuk mencintaiMu lebih mendalamCinta padaMu ialah cinta sejati yang dicarinyaBukan cinta pada manusia yang akan kecewa dan akan dilukaiAku tak mampu memenuhi Raihannya”Teresak-esak Haris diatas tikar sejadahBetapa lembutnya hati seorang lelaki apabila mengadu pada Tuhan yang satuMalam yang hening semakin dihambat dengan kepiluan“Najwa”Panggil HarisMukanya langsung tidak beriakSukar untuk menebak apa yang tersirat dihatinya”apa semua nikenapa perlu membiarkan nafsu merajai akal awakAda apa cinta pada manusiacinta haqiqi yang awak cari ialah cinta pada AllahBukan cinta pada manusia yang pasti akan kecundangDengan status kita sebagai pelajarkita tak boleh menjamin masa depan percintaan tuMaaflahsaya tak boleh memenuhi Raihan awakSaya bukan Habib yang ditakdirkan untuk awak”Lorong yang agak tersorok daripada pandangan pelajar lain menjadi tempat saksinya satu hati yang kecewaSetitis demi setitis mutiara jernih jatuh daripada tubir mata NajwaTidak pernah dia merasa sehancur ini hatinyaMungkin inilah perasaan lelaki yang kecewa apabila ditolak cinta olehnyaTanpa sepatah katadia terus berlalu membawa pergi hati yang remuk rendamAir mata terus setia menitis seiring dengan derapan kasutnyaPerlahan-lahan Haris berlalu pergiTanpa menoleh belakang lagiHaris terus pergiSeribu kesyukuran dipanjatkan pada Ilahi kerana telah mempermudahkan urusannyaSeiring dengan langkahnyahatinya berkata-kata “kau akan temui juga Habib yang ditakdirkan untuk kauNurul Najwa”Tepukan dibahu mengejutkan Haris daripada lamunan”Kau tak pernah luahkan perasaan kau yang sebenar kat Najwa kanDah 10 tahun berlalukau pendamkan perasaan cinta kau tuHarisSiapa sangka lelaki macam kau boleh jatuh hati dengan diaKalau dah nama lelaki tak akan lari daripada jatuh hati terhadap kaum hawa”Redup padangan mata Adam menatap sahabat karibnya sejak dulu lagiJalinan ukhwah yang terbina atas kejujuranAngin petang di persisiran pantai sungguh menyamankanKetenangan jelas terpancar diwajah HarisSayangnya ketenangan itu tidak akan bertahan lama“Tak pernah terdetik dihati aku perasaan menyesalAdamDemi Allahaku bahagia dengan jalan hidup akuWalaupun kita berdua tahuaku tak akan dapat menghayati kebahagiaan itu untuk selama-lamanyaMasih tersemat dalam ingatan akubarang siapa yang jatuh cintalalu menyembunyikan dan memelihara kesucian dirinya serta bersabar sampai dia meninggal duniamaka dia adalah seorang yang mati syahidMungkin aku tak ada jodoh kat dunia niAdam”Masing-masing membisuTiba-tiba Haris mengaduhKepalanya terasa amat sakit sekaliAdam menggelabah apabila tiba-tiba Haris pitamCepat-cepat Adam menelefon talian kecemasan Hancur luluh hati seorang ibu apabila mendapat berita bahawa anaknya akan menyahut panggilan Ilahi sebelum diaPuan Aminah teresak-esak dipangkuan suami tercintaIbu mana yang tahan melihat penderitaan anaknya menghidap barah otakSudah sampai tahap kritikal sakitnyaPuan Aminah mengusap perlahan ubun-ubun anaknyaSesekali dia mengucup dahi anaknyaSetitis mutiara jernih jatuh atas dahi yang pucat lesi ituPilunya hati seorang ibuKelopak mata Haris bergerak-gerakPerlahan-lahan mata yang redup itu membuka“Umihalalkan susu yang Haris minumHalalkan makan minum HarisHaris minta ampunUmiHaris selalu buatkan Umi susah hatiLepas niHaris tak susahkan Umi dahlahLepas ni Haris tak boleh bermanja dah dengan umiUmi dah tak boleh usap kepala HarisHaris akan rindu saat manis tuumiNanti kita akan jumpa balik disanaUmi iringi Haris dengan Al-FatihahyaUmi jangan nangis tau”Haris berusaha melemparkan seyuman buat wanita yang telah mengandungkannya sembilan bulanBetapa besarnya pengorbanan seorang ibu“YasayangUmi halalkan makan minum HarisUmi dah lama ampunkan HarisHarisberehat ya sayang”tutur Puan Aminah dalam suara yang tertahan-tertahan“Adambaru semalam kita bergelak ketawa kanKita jalan sekali sambil bergurau sendaBestkan saat-saat tuAku akan rindu sangat-sangat dengan suasana tuTapi lagi best bila kau bagi hadiah tutulah hadiah paling aku tak akan lupaSenyuman manis kau yang selalu menenangkan hati aku disaat aku susah dan senangKita sama-sama berkongsi susah senangEsok-esokbila aku tak boleh jalanaku nak kau yang iringi akuMasa tu aku dah tak mampu nak panggil akau macam selalukau yang kena datang pada akuMasa tu jugakaku nak hadiah lagiTapi aku dah tak nak senyuman tuAku nak Al-Fatihahkau bacakan untuk aku ekAdamAku dah tak mampu baca sendiriLepas tubila ada orang letak aku bawah papankau jangan nangis dan cari aku dah sebab aku dah tak boleh tegur kauJanji yaAdam”Bibir yang pucat itu masih berusaha mengukir senyuman buat sahabat yang setia menemani disaat suka dan dukaMerah mata AdamHatinya terlalu sebakDia hanya menganggukTanpa sesiapa menyedarimasih ada seseorang yang turut berkongsi kesedihan ituDia sedang menahan tangisan yang akan terburai bila-bila masa“Kuatkan semangat”hatinya berkata-kataDengan semangat yang masih tersisadia gagahkan jua dirinya ke wad pesakit yang menempatkan seseorang yang pernah bertakhta dihatinya Haris semakin lemahDia tersenyum lesu melihat Najwa menghampirinyaNafas Haris semakin tidak teraturDia tercungap-cungapBergema bacaan Yassin oleh sanak saudarasahabat handai diselang-seli dengan tangisan“Hidup matiku hanya pada Allah”Haris berbisik perlahan“mengucap nakmengucap”Encik Rahman bersuara perlahanBerjuntaian mutiara jernih seorang bapaTak sanggup rasanya seorang bapa melihat zuriatnya derita menyahut ajalnya Berakhirnya penderitaan Haris yang ditanggung sekian lamanyaInnalillahwailahirajiunTerjelopok Puan Aminah”Anak akuYa Allah”Adam mampir ke jasad yang terbujur kaku ituDia mengucup perlahan dahi sahabatnyaMenitis air matanya”kau sahabatku dunia akhiratHarisSemoga kita berjumpa lagisahabatkuTenanglah kau disanaHidup matimu hanya pada Allah”getus Adam dalam hatiMenitis air mata seorang sahabatJodohajal maut ditangan AllahRedhailah pemergian sayaIringi saya dengan Al-FatihahBukan tangisan yang mahu didengariSaya bukan dicipta untuk awakNurul NajwaCarilah Habib yang ditakdirkan untuk awakAllah sudah menjodohkan seorang lelaki yang bisa menjadi payung untuk awak berteduhHanya doa yang mampu saya utuskan untuk awakSemoga awak ketemui Habib yang diutuskan untuk awak…yang menyanyangimu khairul harisCoretan yang pendek itu cukup membuatkan hati Najwa dihimpit dengan kesedihanAda sebak yang terbuku didadaWarkah yang pendek itu dilipat kemas lalu disimpan di dalam sebuah kotak yang agak usang“Al-Fatihah untukmu disanaHarisSemoga hari esok lebih baik daripada hari ini”Doa Najwa
dia pendek sikit dari aku dalam 160cm dan berat pun aku agak dalam 50kg. Tak kisahlah pun yang pastinya hubungan sahabat kami berjalan baik. Aku menganggukkan kepala. apa jawapan awak apabila saya ajukan soalan itu. hatinya begitu bersyukur kerana dengan pertolongan beberapa pemuda kampung zairil menahan kumpulan rombongan yang ingin sampai ke rumah Mak Siti. dia sudah meronta-ronta minta dilepaskan.” “Kenangan apa pula? Arghh…dah pukul 9. Ye.kerana Kiranalah tiada sudah apa yang dia pertahankan selama ini matlamat maruah dan harga diri semuanya hilang bak debu-debu yang bertaburan…Semuanya kerana satu perhubungan yang tidak pernah dia rencanakan Benar kata seorang sahabat jika kita tidak menginginkan sekalipun akan sesuatu kalau tuhan sudah menentukan begitu maka begitulah Jika dia kata jadi maka jadilah Dan pastinya perhubungan itu membawa dia pada satu daerah yang sangat asing yang terlalu tidak akrab buat dirinya…yang telah mengubah perspepsi mentaliti dan personalitinya… daerah itu sangat indah jika dibajai dengah keikhlasan dan kejujuran namun sangat membahayakan dan menghancurkan jika dialuri dengan kebuasan nafsu syaitan Itulah daerah yang dinamai sebagai daerah percintaan…menyeronokkan bagi yang bahagia mengsengsarakan bagi yang tidak menggapainya… Dia anak watan 70-an Jua anak laut yang tidak mengerti apa-apa Kemajuan kecanggihan teknologi mahupun fesyen terkini bukanlah perkara biasa buat dirinya Namun setelah penghijrahan dia ke ibu kota dia mula mengenali semuanya itu Perginya bukan bersahaja tapi ingin mencari pangeran hatinya yang telah lama menyepi Pengeran itulah yang telah mengenalkannya pada cinta suci itu dan kemudiannya meninggalkan dia dalam duka Lara hatinya tidak dapat diubat lagi Dia perlu harus dan mesti mencari…lalu dia mula berhijrah pada suatu penghidupan yang benar-benar mengajarnya kehidupan dunia moden yang seawalnya dia terasa begitu ralat dan canggung Dia ingin terus mencari tiada kenal putus asa Kerana dia tahu Kirana pergi bukan kerana dia tidak cinta Kirana pergi bukan kerana dia tidak lagi sudi dan dia pasti amat Kirana pergi bukan kerana Kirana sudah mula membenci tetapi Kirana pergi kerana dirinya yang dulu tidak mengerti Kirana merajuk hati… Dan dia ingin memujuk Kirana agar kembali tapi mungkinkah dia Dia yakin dan percaya Kerana itu dia rela mempertaruhkan nasibnya? Itulah Arjuna?Mula lupa akan cita-cita yang dulu dia kembangkan dia mula lupa pada mata kedua-dua orang tua yang mengalirkan seribu kepercayaaan dan mula lupa tangan yang pernah mendodoikan Dia tetap ingin pergi ingin mencari pangeran hatinya Tapi ibu tetap rela dalam terpaksa kerana sayang Begitu jua ayah Ayah tetap merelai dalam pesan Nasihat ibu dan ayah mengiringi penghijrahan Arjuna Arjuna angguk Arjuna faham? Tapi Arjuna lupa perginya itu bukan sebarang pergi Dia sebenarnya telah menggali lubang yang maha dalam buat dirinya Dia sendiri jua tidak tahu untung nasib dirinya nanti namun dicekalkan jua hati sendiri demi mencari Kirana Dia tekad yang dia tidak akan berpaling lagi Arjuna tiba di ibu kota dengan sekeping kertas putih Arjuna masih ingat pesan Rogayah itulah alamat yang perlu ditujui apabila dia sampai ke Kuala Lumpur Kota itu terasa begitu asing buat Arjuna apatah lagi hentian Puduraya yang sebegitu menyesakkan Arjuna mula teringat akan kampung halamannya yang terasa begitu nyaman dan menenangkan Ingatannya tenggelam dalam kesyahduan deruan ombak pantai Teluk kalong Pokok Nyiur sedang melambai-lambai lembut seolah-olah menggamit kepulangannya Rindu tiba-tiba datang bertamu… Tetapi itu dahulu Saat mula-mula dia ke sini Namun kini tidak lagi Kampungnya sudah tiada makna pada hatinya ibu dan ayah sudah mula luput dari ingatan Arjuna datang mencari Kirana namun Arjuna yang sebenarnya kehilangan dirinya Arjuna tewas dengan godaan dunia Tidak terduga oleh Arjuna apabila sekali lagi cinta itu bertamu dihati Dan cinta Arjuna bukanlah cinta seperti dulu Cinta Arjuna kini sudah berganti anekanya Tiada lagi cinta suci tiada lagi cinta sejati yang ada cinta nafsu-nafsi yang menyeronokkan dalam kesengsaraan Arjuna tewas Pangeran hatinya dulu telah dilupakan Begitu jua cita yang dikobar-kobarkan selama ini Dulu arjuna pernah berjanji akan mencari Kirana kerana Kirana punyai cita-cita yang sama punyai pandangan yang sama tentang kehidupan dan jua Arjuna tahu bersama Kirananya rencana itu dapat diteruskan Tapi hanya kerana pertemuan dengan Arif di hentian Puduraya yang tiada mengerti apa-apa Arjuna mula kelam dalam ketandusan Arjuna terjebat dalam cinta terlarang Dia tidak lagi mengerti akan hakikat kehidupan yang dicari Pesan ayah dan ibu tiada lagi berbekas di hati Arjuna pernah terasa berdosa Tetapi perasaanya itu sering hilang begitu sahaja Arjuna seronok begitu seronok dengan kehidupan yang baru ditemui ini Arjuna suka kehidupan yang tiada kongkongan adat resam tidak ada pantang larangnya dan bebas sebebasnya berbuat apa sahaja Arjuna seronok kerana Arjuna tidak pernah menemui kehidupan sebegitu Malah Arjuna juga tidak lagi sesuci Arjuna Kirana yang dulu Arjuna hilang harga diri yang dipertahankan kerana bercinta dengan mengikut kata hati Namun jauh di sudut hatinya tersimpan dendam yang amat dalam Arjuna marah Arjuna benci tapi apalah daya Arjuna…malah tiada siapapun yang dapat mengerti akan isi hatinya kini Arjuna kini juga mempunyai ramai teman baru berbeza dengan dirinya di kampung dahulu Inilah yang Arjuna harap-harapkan Arjuna lupa bahawa dia sudah jauh menyimpang Arjuna tenggelam dalam keseronokan dunia sementara Tiada lagi cinta suci Arjuna buat Kirana… Dan sekali lagi tuhan ingin menguji…Arjuna gadis sunti di ambang 20-an punyai raut wajah yang mempesonakan senyuman yang begitu menawan dan renungan yang begitu mengasyikkan mula rebah kebumi Kekuatannya yang dulu begitu sejati dalam dirinya hilang tiada berpesan Sepancar kilat sesalan itu datang dan Arjuna benar-benar ingin kembali namun masih bergunakah… Arjuna menangis esak beratap raung…namun hakikat hidup yang pergi takkan kembali Ayah dan ibunya pergi tanpa melihat puteri kesayangannya berbahagia dengan pangeran hatinya pangeran yang dikejar dan dinanti selama ini Bukan sahaja mereka pergi tanpa mengetahui khabar tentang Arjuna tetapi mereka jua pergi tanpa sempat melihat Arjuna mengotakan janjinya…janji yang sering meniti di bibir Arjuna semenjak kecilnya lagi…dan tahukah mereka bahawa puteri itu kini sudah tidak setia pada janji… Arjuna tersentak tiba-tiba Dedaunan mempelam yang berguguran menyapu lembut wajahnya Arjuna mendongak Sepantas kilat ingatan itu memutar kembali kenangannya tatkala melihatkan bebuah mempelam di hujung dahan Di sinilah episod cinta itu benar-benar berakhir berakhir dengan esak tangis Arjuna Arjuna benar-benar kehilangan Kirana… Kirana pulang Sebetulnya Kirana sudah lama ingin kembali ke kampung halamannya namun langkahnya sering terhenti Terasa seolah-olah ada sesuatu yang menghalang Terasa masih ada lagi yang ingin dia buktikan Namun kerana rindunya pada Arjuna gadis yang diikat dengan kasih sayangnya dahulu dia melangkah jua pulang Kampung Telok Kalong baginya tiada banyak berubah Dan dia harap-harap gadisnya jua begitu Namun kecewanya Kirana bukan kepalang Mendengarkan cerita dari temannya Sudin Kirana terkedu Terasa sayu dihujung hati mengenang Arjuna yang tidak berpegang pada janji Bertambah sayu lagi apabila mengetahui Arjuna pergi kerana mencari dirinya sehinggakan lupa pada ayah bonda tercinta Bagi Kirana Arjuna tidak perlu begitu kerana dia sendiri telah berjanji yang Arjuna tidak akan sekali-sekali dia persiakan Lagipun Arjuna gadis desa yang kuat berpegang pada budaya dan adat Tidak seharusnya dia berkelakuan begitu Marahnya semakin bertambah tatkala didengarinya cerita bahawa Arjuna sudah jauh berubah bila ke kota Minah rewang minah ligat… aduh pedihnya hati? Yang paling disesali Arjuna sanggup mendurhakai ibu ayahnya yang dahulu Arjuna sentiasa utamakan Kerana cintakannya Arjuna sanggup meninggalkan mereka Malah kerana hidup di ibu kota yang selesa Arjuna mula lupa kedua-dua insan yang dulunya tempat dia bernaung kasih dan sayang Astagfirullahalazim Arjuna… Berlainan dengan Arjuna… Saat melihatkan Kirana Arjuna mula lupa diri Lupa akan khilaf yang pernah dilakukan Kerana rindu yang telah lama terpendam dia bagaikan histeria Perasaannya membuak-buak ingin memeluk Kirana Dia ingin meluahkan segala rasa yang terbuku Dia tahu Kirana pasti mengerti akan hatinya Dia tahu cinta Kirana adalah buatnya Namun pelukan Arjuna itu tidak berbalas terasa longgar Dia mendongak memandang wajah Kirana Air mata Kirana berkelompok di mata Arjuna mengerti Arjuna mula menangis kuat… Dan dedaunan mempelam gugur lagi berselerak di kaki Anggerik biru ditepi kaki hanya membatu seolah-olah serba tidak tahu dan rumput-rampai yang kesayuan hanya tunduk membisu ke bumi…syahdu… ‘Abang…’ Arjuna hanya mampu menjerit dalam hati saat Kirana meleraikan pelukan itu Kirana memandang sayu wajah Arjuna “Cinta itu tidak buta Arjuna Jadi janganlah Arjuna buta kerana cinta…” Arjuna terdiam Dia pernah mendengar kata-kata itu…ye Arjuna ingat Itu pesan ayah sebelum Arjuna pergi mencari Kirana Mengingatkan itu air mata Arjuna semakin mengalir laju Mata Kirana pula semakin berkaca “Arjuna tidak ada cinta sejati tidak ada cinta suci andai diri tidak punyai cinta buat diri dan keluarga sendiri…kembalilah Arjuna Tebuslah malumu…selamat tinggal Arjuna Maya…” ucap Kirana dalam sebak Arjuna benar-benar ingin menjerit Lebih menyedihkan Arjuna Kirana pergi tanpa mendengar penjelasannya Kirana perlu tahu cintanya memang cinta sejati buat dirinya Kerana cinta yang dia agungkan itu dia rela berbuat apa sahaja Tahukah Kirana apa yang terjadi padanya?tahukah Kirana yang dia dinodai tanpa rela… Kirana tetap tidak mahu berpaling? Bukanlah Kirana mahu berlaku kejam dan bukanlah Kirana mahu menghukum apatah lagi di saat-saat Arjuna berduka lara sebegitu Tetapi Kirana berbuat keputusan begitu kerana dia lelaki sejati yang berpegang teguh pada kata dan janji Ye janji? Dulu Arjuna dan dia pernah sama-sama berjanji…akan bersatu apabila tiba waktunya sama-sama berjanji…yang tiada pernah ada cinta lain antara mereka Dan yang paling penting Arjuna pernah berjanji untuk menjaga dirinya buat Kirana Bersungguh-sungguh Arjuna berjanji namun dialah jua yang memungkiri Walau begitu dalam hatinya masih terdetik kalimat…’abang sayang Arjuna…’ Terasa ingin sekali dia bisikkan pada Arjuna kalimat itu namun biarlah hanya dia sahaja yang tahu Angin bayu selatan itu menempis kuat wajahnya membuatkan dia tersentak dari lamunan itu sekali lagi Terasa basah pipinya Pipi itu kini tidak segebu dahulu sudah punya urat-urat timbul Juga tidak lagi setegang dahulu malah sudah menampakkan riak-riak kedut di sana-sini Dia meraba-raba matanya Basah Mata itu jua sudah tidak sesempurna 40 tahun yang lalu bengkaknya timbul kaburnya jua teruk kerana tangisnya yang tidak pernah jemu “Abang…” Sekali lagi kalimat itu meniti di bibirnya Dulu dia pernah meraung kuat kalimat itu tatkala dia sedar dari lena tanpa seurat benang pun Dia marah geram sedih dan benci Tapi pada siapa… Arif Arif menegurnya di Puduraya berbuat baik padanya menawarkan pertolongan untuk mencari tempat yang ingin ditujuinya Arjuna terpedaya dan itulah yang terjadi padanya setelah meminum air pemberian Arif Dia tertekan Arif memohon maaf Arif ingin memiliki dia selama-lamanya kerana itu Arif berbuat demikian Arif tidak mahu Arjuna ketemu Kirana kerana hatinya sudah jatuh cinta pandang pertama Mendengarkan itu Arjuna hampir pengsan Arjuna tidak tahu arahnya lagi Harga dirinya sudah hilang dan dia tidak mahu pulang menadah nasib pada keluarganya Kerana itu Arjuna hidup dalam dunia Arif dan Arif berjanji tidak meninggalkan Arjuna sewenang-wenangnya Arjuna tidak mengerti bahawa perkiraannya itu silap Dan Arjuna hanya pulang setelah dia begitu banyak kehilangan…hilang cita cinta harga diri dan kedu-dua ibu bapanya… Dan Arjuna tahu dia telah banyak melukakan namun dia juga telah banyak dilukakan… Dia juga tahu yang dia telah banyak mengecewakan namun dia juga telah banyak dikecewakan… Dengan mata berkaca Arjuna merenung ke arah laut biru…seolah-olah mengharap Kirana akan muncul di situ Dia masih menanti dan dia ingin sekali Kirana kembali agar Kirana tahu cintanya tidak pernah pudar Malah penantian itu tidak pernah berakhir Dan mencari Kirana jua tidak pernah berakhir… bukan juga ingin menyesali.
bahagia milik kami jua akhirnya. Namun mulutnya ditutup dengan tangan,Berputar mata F4 mendengarkan perkhabaran indah yang baru mereka terima tetapi putaran mata mereka menjadi dua kali ganda apabila mendengar kata-kata si Dzikri. berdetap-detap bunyinya lalu mengarahkan agar anak kecil itu segera di bawa ke hospital. Sungguh veteran coraknya.“Alamak!!Ayam aku…!” Bergegar jap rumah dengar Enot menjerit Lepas tu lintang pukang lari Siap tak pandang dah kiri kanan main ikut sedap je pijak siapa-siapa jer yang ada kat situ“Woi sakit la Enot Badan kalau kecik takpe gak ni dah macam tong drum tapi kecik sikit dari tong drum tu” Peah membebel la apa lagi mau tak kena pijak kaki dia tadi dengan Enot“Mulut tu jaga sikit ek Aku sumbat dengan cili baru tau Sensitif aku dengar tong-tong ni”laung Enot dari dapurMacam tu la rumah bila kelima-lima sekawan tu berkumpul Nasib baik rumah tu masih kukuh dan kuat binaannya Maklum la semua umat yang duduk dalam rumah tu badan sihat-sihat belaka Macam-macam saiz ada dari XL sampai ke XXXXL Tapi takpe tak jadi halangan pun kan Cerita ni berkisar pada impian gadis yang chubby belaka Setiap manusia ada impian begitu juga dengan mereka semua Mari kita berkenalan dengan mereka berlimaBermula daripada Enot atau nama sebenar dalam kad pengenalan Zarina Amira binti dia ni seorang yang berbadan montel dan katek jugak Bila jalan terkedek-kedek je dari jauh Seorang yang happy go lucky santai dan pelatah Kerja tukang masak kat gerai belakang rumah dorangImpian dia mesti la nak jadi tukang masak gak tapi dia nak capai cita-cita nan satu iaitu bukak kedai sendiri laAzie ni pulak nama betul dia Sharifah Azie Hanani binti Syed Azlan Perwatakan menarik la Badan dia sorang je kecik sikit dari semua yang lain Dia ni periang manja dan penyayang Atas sifat penyayang dia tu la dia kerja sebagai cikgu tadika Jangan korang tak tahu impian dia bukan senang tau Nak jadi model kononnya Tapi badan macam dia boleh ke Entah la apa-apa pun kita tengok je la nantiPeah seorang gadis yang berbadan gedempol mulut pun tak ingat kira minah laser la sorang ni Dia ni paling suka makan pantang je ada makanan depan mata diserbunya dia Siap tak pandang kiri kanan lagi tu Lupa dia ni kerjanya amat merbahaya dengarnya kerja dia ni kira bulu gajah da…Hehe Mana ada kerja minah sorang ni senang je jaga kaunter wang kat depan kedai cashier la tu Impian nak jadi penyanyi macam Adibah Nor tu Nama betul Peah ni tak lain tak bukan mestilah Roslina Admira Shah binti Amirul KhuzaimanEton lak nama sebetulnya Mariah Izzati binti Kamarulzaman Badan macam biasa la chubby gak Mulut yang ni kalau dah bersatu dengan si Peah tu alamat terbalik la rumah korang Suara kuat mulut kecoh pulak tuKerjanya berangan dari sehari ke sehari al-maklum la nak jadi penulis Sekarang ni pun dia kerja jadi penulis tapi untuk blog sendiri je la Kerja tetap dia sebagai promoter kat Jaya Jusco Wangsa Maju je punAkhir sekali cik Dayah kita atau nama dalam surat beranak Tengku Hidayah Putri Almiah binti Tengku Shah Aman Tergeliat lidah gak nak sebut nama minah ni Dia ni minat melukis impian nak jadi pereka fesyen Tapi dapat jadi tukang jahit je Tak sempat nak reka apa-apa fesyen dah dibantai bos dia suruh jahit baju pelangganOk cukup masa dah kenal dorang semua Untuk capai impian masing-masing mestilah banyak ujian dan halangan Begitu jugak dengan dorang ni semua Nak lagi Azie tu nak jadi model Tercapai ke hajat dorang tu semua Baiklah jom patah balik masa anda dengan dorang tadi“Wei aku lapar la Enot kau masak apa ni Dah la tu rentung lak tu ayamnya” Peah mengadu lapar siap peril lagi Enot tu“Amboi siap perli aku tapi tanya masak apa lak Banyak cantik muka kau Peah”“Muka aku memang cantik Kau jangan la jeles dengan aku pulak” Balas Peah“Banyak la kau Aci yang selalu datang beli makanan kat kedai makan aku lagi cantik dari kau tau”“Dah la korang ni Asyik gaduh je tengok aku pantas memasak ni Kesian kat Enot tau Jom la makan cucur udang ni je” tawar Dayah pada kawan-kawannya“Nasib kau ada tau Dayah Sedapnya bau” Laju je Peah sambar cucur udang dan dimasukkan terus ke dalam mulutnya“Gelojoh betul la kau ni Peah Kang tercekik baru padan muka kau” Kata Eton“Aku lapar la wei Lantak korang la Aku nak makan” Dengan rakus Peah sumbat cucur udang dalam mulutnya lagi Serentak itu keempat-empat mereka menggelengkan kepala tengok perangai Peah yang gelojoh tu“Peah majalah aku beli semalam kau letak mana Aku nak baca la Asal aku beli je kau rembat dulu Tak sempat aku nak baca lagi tau Bak sini balik kalau kau dah abis baca Aku nak baca pulak” Minta Azie pada Peah yang tengah syok menonton cerita Renjis“Ada tu kat atas meja aku Amik la sendiri aku nak tengok cerita ni Jangan kacau aku”“Yelah”“Azie nah surat kau Ok la aku dah lambat nak pergi kerja ni Chow dulu” Dengan tergopoh-gapah Dayah berlari keluar mendapatkan skuter kesayangannya“Dayah thanks Bawak motor elok-elok Jangan rempit lak” Laung Azie pada kawannya seorang itu“Surat apa pulak ni Lain macam je Baca la dulu Sukacita dimaklumkan permohonan anda telah berjaya dengan itu anda diminta menghadirkan diri pada 22102008 di alamat tersebut bagi menjalani sesi bergambar” Terjojol biji mata Azie membaca suratnya Macam tak percaya dia telah terpilih untuk ke sesi bergambar dan sekaligus melayakkan dirinya menjadi model syarikat tersebut“Woi silau mata aku tengok gigi kau tu Apakehal kau ni duk menyengih sesorang ni” soal Peah tiba-tiba“Peah sukanya aku” Dah terlompat-lompat lak Azie macam kongkang dapat pisang“Apa yang kau suka Bagitau la kat kitaorang ni Dah yang kau terlompat-lompat lak ni kenapa” kata Eton setelah melihat kongkang terlompat-lompat depan mata“Aku dah berjaya jadi model la wei Tak sia-sia usaha aku selama ni Berapa banyak gambar aku hantar kat agensi model Akhirnya aku dapat gak” Kata Azie sambil terkinja-kinja melompat tak tentu pasal lagi“Suka la kau ek Azie Apa-apa pun tahniah la dari kami” Mereka segera memeluk Azie“Thanks korang” Balas Azie“Syarikat mana kau dapat tu Kau dapat jadi model apa sebenarnya ni” soal Enot“Syarikat penerbitan majalah Fesyen Muslimah la Ala majalah yang tengah meletup sekarang ni dengan fesyen-fesyen muslimah tu Sukanya aku” Tersengih-sengih Azie menampakkan giginya yang putih berseri setelah menggunakan ubat gigi Fresh and White“Sharifah Azie Hanani binti Syed Azlan Sila masuk ke dalam” Panggil gadis berbaju kurung merah hatiiAyu bertudung macam Wardina sepuluh kali tengok“Cik Shaifah tahniah dari pihak kami Saya Khairil dah lama kami mencari model yang sesuai untuk peragakan pakaian keluaran syarikat kami” Ucap Encik Khairil“Terima kasih encik Saya pun tak sangka boleh terpilih saya memang minat sangat jadi model tapi maklum la badan saya tak secantik dan semolek Nasha Aziz Saya rasa bersyukur sangat terpilih jadi model untuk syarikat encik” Balas Azie“Ok kalau macam tu mari kita berlatih untuk sesi bergambar Saya nak tengok hasil dari awak Baiklah kenalkan jurugambar kami Nizam Nizam apa lagi tolong la amik gambar Cik Sharifah kita ni” Kata Encik Khairil“Encik Khairil panggil saya Azie sudah la Lebih selesa lagi baiklah Encik Khairul Saya mintak diri untuk sesi bergambar” Azie meminta izin“Baik la Azie Silakan Nizam bagi dia pakai baju yang baru tu Rasanya sesuai dengan dia” Arah Encik Khairil“Baik Encik Khai Permisi dulu ya” Nizam meminta diri“Ok Azie saya Nizam Selamat datang ke syarikat kami Mari la kita mulakan kalau awak dah bersedia”“Thanks Nizam Saya siap dulu ye”30 mint kemudian…“Woooo…comelnya awak Azie Sesuai la baju ni dengan awak ” laju je kata-kata itu meluncur dari lidah Nizam“Terima kasih Boleh kita mulakan sekarang tak Malu la saya awak tengok saya macam tu” Dalam tersipu-ipu malu Azie berkata setelah menyedari Nizam memandang dirinya tanpa berkeelip-kelip“Sori ok jom mula sekarang” Dengan penuh semangat Nizam memulakan segala tugas yang diberikan6 bulan kemudian….” Pinta Dayah seraya dengan selamba merampas majalah Fesyen Muslimah dari tangan Azie. Sejak bila orang tua itu jadi baik pun dia tak tau. Lepas 10 tahun, aku jauh-jauh dari ruang hidupnya.walau telah hampir 2 tahun peristiwa kejam itu berlalu namun ia masih segar di benak memori masih sayangkah aku pada Adam entahlah…tapi satu realiti yang pasti nama itu masih terpahat kukuh hingga saat ini“Weii!
Awak minta tolong saya untuk ajar awak agama. She??“Pak Lang bagi tahu.Saja je buat orang lain tak ada mood, Kerja pindah randah.“Kenapa? “Ustaz, ustaz.“Kesian la dekat Amir tu Tom. Kak Long boleh terima?”“Masyallah Tom Bawa mengucap Tom Bawa mengucap” Mak Long Zainab terkejut dengan kenyataan dari lisan Mak Tom yang semakin lantang mengkritik takdir Terpapar riak kecewa di wajahnya“Kak Long Kak Long rasa penyakit Amir tu takdir ke Penyakit Amir tu bukan takdir Kak Long tapi hukuman Ini balasan setimpal yang sepatutnya Amir terima Biar padan muka dia Biar…”“Assalamualaikum…”Kata-kata lantang tempelak Mak Tom terhenti Di lihat Intan sudah tercegat di muka pintu Penghantar laporan sudah pulang Ingat aku tak tahu ini kerja kau Intan Mempergunakan kakak aku ni untuk memujuk aku Dia tahu Intan mahu ibunya ini cair dengan kata rayu kakaknya sendiri Sememangnya kakaknya itu pandai merayu Jika tidak masakan arwah Akob dapat mengahwininya kalau bukan kerana lisan kakaknya itu yang berusaha memujuk arwah bapanya Haji Borhan“Waalaikumussalam Masuk Intan” Mak Long Zainab spontan menyambut salam sambil mengukir senyum cuba menyembunyikan wajah kecewa Mak Tom pula menjeling tajam lalu berpaling“Mak Long sihat Dah lama sampai Pak Long mana” Intan bertanyakan Mak Long Zainab sambil menghulur tangan untuk bersalam tanda hormat Mak Long Zainab menyambutnya Jemari tua itu di kucup lembut“Lama la juga Intan Sempat la bersembang-sembang dengan mak kamu tadi Pak Long kamu esok baru sampai Kamu dari mana”Intan menjeling ke arah ibunya Masam Hujung mata pun tidak menjeling akan dirinya Dia tak ingin bercakap banyak Silap hari bulan dia pula yang di maki hamun ibu sendiri“Err saya dari rumah Kak Fina tadi Hantar pampers Abang Amir Mak Long Intan masuk dulu ye…” Intan tunduk meminta izin kemudian beredar tergesa-gesa“Sampai dah pakai pampers dah si Amir tu kamu tak nak juga maafkan dia Kak Long mohon sekali je Tom kamu jejakkan kaki kamu ke sana jadilah…”Mak Tom diam Tak ada sedikit pun selera untuk menjejak kaki ke rumah Amir Dari waktu Amir tinggal di flat dulu hingga ke rumah banglo 2 tingkat tak akan pernah hatinya berubah Apa perlu aku ke sana kalau tak ada sekelumit pun rasa nak memaafkan tu ada Tetapi hati Kak Longnya itu juga harus di jaga Terlalu banyak jasa Kak Long padanya Tambahan pula hanya itulah satu-satunya adik beradiknya yang tinggal“Baiklah Kak Long Tom akan pergi tapi jangan Kak Long harap Tom akan maafkan Amir Tom pergi kerana Kak Long Dah Tom nak masak” Mak Tom bangun beredar dengan hati yang masih panas membara Mak Long Zainab tersenyum kecil Ada air mata bergenang menanti untuk mengalir dari kelopaknya“Alhamdulillah Syukur Kau tunaikan permintaanku ini…” Bisik hati Mak Long ZainabTiba-tiba…“Mak Long Mak Long Abang Amir Mak Long Abang Amir dah tenat”Jeritan bercampur tangis Intan yang berlari keluar dari bilik mencemaskan Mak Long Zainab…***Mak Tom menarik nafas sedalam-dalamnya kemudian di lepaskan kembali seolah melepaskan satu bebanan yang teramat berat Perasaannya berbeza Jika pagi tadi amarahnya meluap entah mengapa pertama kali berpijak sahaja di halaman rumah Amir emosi kebenciannya merudum Gema halus bacaan Surah Yasin yang di baca oleh para hadirin yang melawat Amir seolah mengundang rasa syahdu yang mengusik Dia mula buntu akan niat dan tujuan asalnya dia berada di situ Sekadar menepati janji atau ingin melawat insan yang amat di benci Intan dan Kak Long sudah melangkah ke dalam Dia masih lagi di situ Berperang dengan jiwanya sendiriMak Tom mendongak memandang rumah banglo dua tingkat milik Amir yang tersergam indah bukti usaha keras anak sulungnya selama ini berjaya 3 cawangan restoran ikan bakar yang tak putus pengunjung sudah cukup membuktikan kejayaan Amir Walau tanpa di iringi doa dari lisannya yang tak pernah langsung mendoakan kebahagiaan anak sulungnya itu tetapi Amir tetap berjaya dalam kehidupannyaDan itu semua takdirDia kenal sifat anak sulungnya itu Cekal hati sukar berputus asa Dan sifat terpuji itu turut di bawa dalam soal memohon keampunan darinya Tiada langsung rasa putus asa untuk memohon keampunan dari seorang ibu walau sudah berjuta patah herdik dan caci maki di hamburkanEgo Dendam melangit Terlalu lama sifat mazmumah itu Mak Tom biarkan bercambah di dalam hati sehingga imannya kabur mencari sinar Yang bathil di anggap terpuji Asalkan hatinya puas puas dan puasMak Tom tunduk melihat bumi Angin petang separa panas yang bertiup menyemarakkan lagi konflik hatinya Terlalu banyak persoalan bertalu-talu menghentam minda Bersilih ganti iman dan nafsu memberi jawapan Puaskan hati kau Tom Biar Amir ke lahad dengan murka kau Tom Biar dia rasa balasan derhaka Biar dia derita hingga ke neraka Tom Tapi siapakah aku ini Manusia ciptaan Allah Allah maha Pengampun tapi aku Menghukum Amir seolah nama aku ini sudah tertulis di pintu syurgaArgh Ingin sahaja Mak Tom menjerit melepaskan beban jiwanyaMak Tom dengan penuh debar melangkah setapak demi setapak mendekati birai pintu Gema sayu bacaan Surah Yasin semakin jelas menerjah deria pendengarannya Di tinjau perlahan satu demi satu wajah-wajah yang hadir Terlihat wajah jiran-jiran yang mengambil berat Terlihat juga Pak Yazid dan Kak Zaharah besannya yang sudah hampir seminggu di situ Mereka memandang tersenyum sayu Terbit pula rasa malu Mertua lebih mengambil berat perihal menantu berbanding ibu sendiri yang tak sudah-sudah mempertahankan egoPerlahan Mak Tom menoleh ke arah Amir Luluh jiwa raga melihat zuriat pernah di rasakan sakit melahirkannya Mak Tom tak menyangka Amir sederita ini Wajah cengkung tubuh kurus melidi hanya di tutupi selimut Mata Amir terpejam rapat namun bibirnya tak henti bergerak seolah berbicara akan satu ungkapan“Tom Kamu ingat tak apa perkataan pertama yang Amir sebut waktu kecil dulu” Bisik Mak Long Zainab yang tiba-tiba muncul dari entah dari manaMak Tom menoleh sekilas lalu mengerutkan dahi Mindanya ligat cuba memainkan semula ulang tayang detik Amir belajar menyebut perkataan pertamanya Dia teringat akan peristiwa itu Kala itu arwah Akob buntu untuk memahami kehendak dan maksud lisan Amir yang dalam tangis tak henti henti berkata ‘tu tu’ ‘tu tu’ ‘tu tu’“Amir tu nak susu bang Tu yang dia sebut ‘tu tu’ banyak kali tu”Teringat Mak Tom akan penjelasan ringkasnya kepada arwah Akob Hati Mak Tom sedikit terusik dengan kenangan itu“Kenapa Kak Long tanya macam tu” Mak Tom kembali bertanya Mak Long Zainab“Cuba kamu lihat bibir Amir yang tak henti-henti bergerak tu Kamu rasa kamu faham tak apa yang Amir cuba sebutkan”Mak Tom merenung kembali bibir Amir Terbuka tertutup kemudian terbuka kembali“Tom Ketika Amir kecil waktu Amir belum mampu bercakap waktu lampin Amir pun Tom yang tukarkan makan Amir pun Tom yang suapkan Tom boleh faham apa sahaja kehendak Amir Walau cuma satu rengekan sedikit tangisan atau sepatah perkataan Kasih sayang seorang ibu yang membuat kamu berusaha untuk faham kehendak seorang anak”Mak Tom diam Hatinya sayu Dia faham maksud kakak sulungnya itu“Tom Lihat zuriat kamu tu Tom Sisa kudrat yang tinggal di kerah sepenuhnya untuk menggerakkan bibirnya semata-mata nak mengucapkan satu perkataan Sepatutnya kamu dah cukup faham maksud dan kehendak Amir tu Tom Kamu ibunya Tom…”Gerak bibir Amir sememangnya menandakan lafaz satu gelaran Gelaran yang memaknakan rasa sayang hormat dan cinta seorang khalifah pada wanita yang bertarung nyawa melahirkannya Gelaran agung khusus untuk sang penggoncang buaian yang menggegar dunia Gelaran yang andai berdoa untuk anaknya tiada ruang hijab antara diri dan Maha PenciptanyaMak Ya Allah Di waktu bernafas pun semakin sukar Amir masih lagi gagahkan lisannya menyebut lafaz itu Sedangkan aku… Ya Allah Kejamkah aku ini Ya Allah Ibu apakah aku ini Ya AllahTubuh Mak Tom di serang dingin Darah yang mengalir ke seluruh urat sarafnya seolah terhenti Bibirnya di ketap berulang kali Tubuhnya gigil cuba menahan tangis Anak matanya mula menterjemahkan sebak hati Butiran kaca halus mula bergenang di kelopak Tanpa di suruh langkah tapaknya menuju ke arah Amir Semua hadirin memerhati Pilu HibaFina bangun menyambut Mak Tom Jemari yang sekian lama tak pernah di kucup hormat itu di kucup lembut Hatinya gembira walau di terjemah dengan tangis duka di wajahnya Doanya pada Ar Rahman akhirnya di makbulkan“Abang Mak datang bang Mak abang datang jenguk abang” Bisikan halus Fina di lafaz lembut di telinga Amir Mak Tom menggenggam erat jari jemari Amir yang dari tadi hanya berlabuh di dada tidak bermaya“A… Am… Amir…” Panggilan Mak Tom tersekat-sekat dalam nada sebak Jemari kirinya mengusap-usap dahi Amir yang sejuk Perlahan Amir membuka matanya yang sekian lama terpejam Hujung matanya menjeling kehadiran insan yang amat di rindui belaiannya Airmata mula bergenang menanti untuk mengalir dari kelopaknya Jemari yang sekian lama terkulai tak berdaya mula terketik-ketikDi dalam sedu sedan Mak Tom tersenyum menatap mata Amir yang separa terbuka Tatapan itu mula menterjemahkan rasa Rasa yang sekian lama luput dari hati seorang ibu Rasa sayang belas dan ihsan Sedikit demi sedikit sang nafsu mulai tewas dengan asakan iman Awan suram ego mulai kabur di sinari cahaya kasih seorang ibu Mak Tom menarik nafas sedalam-dalamnya Lisannya bersedia untuk menzahirkan ucapan keramat…“Mir Maafkan mak Mir Selama ini mak kejam pada kamu Mak ampunkan Amir Mak ampunkan kamu dunia akhirat Mir…” Mak Tom tunduk mengucup lembut dahi AmirTiba-tiba Amir menggerakkan tangan kanannya yang masih erat di genggam Mak Tom Mak Tom terpinga-pinga di dalam hiba memandang Fina dengan tanda tanya Fina juga begitu Masih ada sesuatu yang ingin di luahkan AmirBertongkat siku Amir gagahkan diri mengangkat jemarinya yang masih erat di genggam Mak Tom lalu di biarkan terhempas di atas ribaan Fina Mak Tom gigil menahan tangis Naluri keibuannya cukup arif memahami maksud tindakan Amir Lantas Mak Tom meletakkan jemarinya pada kandungan Fina“Mir Mak faham Mir Mak faham Mak restu Fina jadi menantu mak Mir Mak restu Mak restu zuriat kamu ni jadi cucu mak Mir…”Seraya itu lafaz Mak Tom itu membuat bibir Amir tersenyum lemah Matanya mula meredup Sedikit demi sedikit mulai terpejam Amir menarik nafas kencang sehingga belakang tubuhnya terangkat“Allah…”Amir melepaskan satu hembusan nafas halus bersama ungkapan itu Tiada lagi ombak nafas turun naik di dadanya Sepasang matanya juga tertutup rapat Airmatanya juga berhenti mengalir Mak Tom tunduk menahan derasnya airmata Fina teresak menahan duka Para tetamu yang melihat mengeluh redha“Innalillahi Wa Inna Ilaihir Rojiun” Mak Tom dan Fina berpelukan menangisi kepergianDari kejauhan Mak Long Zainab duduk tasyahud menadah tangan Airmata syukur berlinangan“Alhamdulillah Terima kasih Ya Allah atas limpah kasih sayangMu…”
Assalamualaikum bie.“Sayang, Kemudian, So,jaga diri ye Maya, dia menatap wajah mulus Maya Hani yang kaku dihadapannya. dia tak nak keluar pulak dengan aku.” “Er.Waalaikumsalam” Malas betul layan kerenah Akmal ni Sekejap okey sekejap macam ribut taufan Aku pun tak tahu nak tafsirkan perasan aku kat dia macam mana Aku memang minat pada Akmal sejak mula-mula berkenalan dulu Akmal ni boleh dikategorikan dalam good lookinglah Sebab tu kot aku terpikat kat dia Tapi dia bukannya pernah anggap aku ni lebih daripada seorang kawan Awek-awek dia keliling pinggang Aku ni dicarinya lepas tak ada awek nak layan dia Hampeh betul “Jo kau tak payahlah nak menaruh harapan pada Akmal Dia tak pandang langsung kat kau Cuba kau bandingkan diri kau dengan awek-awek Akmal tu” Pernah beberapa rakanku menegur Memanglah tomboy macam aku ni tak ada siapa nak pandang Salah ke menaruh perasaan pada orang “Jo” panggil Shafiq sambil melambaikan tangannya di hadapanku Alamak Kantoi berangan lagi depan Shafiq “Beranganlah tu” Aku tersengih depan Shafiq Nak buat apa lagi Takkanlah aku nak menafikan lagi Dah terang lagi bersuluh memang aku berangan “Ada apa” “Kau dah buat belum velocity diagram Aku nak tengok boleh” Aku pantas menyelak beberapa helai kertas di hadapanku dan menyerahkan pada Shafiq “Kau tolong tengokkan Manalah tahu ada garisan aku yang tersenget ke” “Okey” Perangai Akmal dengan Shafiq memang sangat berbeza macam langit dengan bumi Setakat ni aku belum pernah nampak Shafiq keluar berdua dengan mana-mana perempuan kecuali aku Tapi aku keluar dengan dia sebab nak study dengan dia Bukannya keluar dating Niat tak menghalalkan cara Johanna Melissa Tapi susah nak tolak pelawaan Shafiq Shafiq ni memang seorang lelaki yang sangat baik dan caring Kalau aku dapat jadi bini dia confirm aku boleh goyang kaki hari-hari Apa yang kau merapu ni Johanna Melissa Focus pada study kau tu Tak payahlah nak bandingkan Akmal dengan Shafiq Bukannya untung pun Dua-dua tak nak kat kau Aku kembali menyelak buku rujukan dynamics “Kau ni teruklah Jo Kau beritahu aku nak buat assignment Dr Keith Kenapa kau keluar dengan Shafiq” marah Akmal Aku menelan air liur Terkejut sebenarnya kena sergah dengan Akmal pagi-pagi macam ni Dahlah tu depan kawan-kawan aku pulak Sengaja nak menjatuhkan air muka aku Keji betul Akmal ni “Aku keluar dengan Shafiq buat assignment Dr Keithlah Yang kau nak mengamuk tak tentu pasal ni kenapa” aku menjawab tenang Mak pernah pesan kat aku api kalau disimbah air makin marak jadi biarlah aku berlembut dengan Akmal ni Kalau dua-dua naikkan suara alamatnya perang dunia ketiga akan meletus “Oh Sebab kau nak berdua-duan dengan Shafiqlah kau tak nak tengok wayang dengan aku” “Come on Akmal Aku buat kerja dengan Shafiq Bukannya berpeleseran tak tentu hala Tak payahlah nak besar-besarkan hal ni” geram jugak aku dengan Akmal Apa masalahnya kalau aku buat kerja dengan Shafiq pun “Jo tomboy macam kau memang tak de lelaki yang nak tau Kau silap kalau kau rasa Shafiq tu suka kat kau” Ni macam mana pulak boleh timbul isu tomboy dengan hal Shafiq suka kat aku pulak Sahlah Akmal ni gila Cemburu tak tentu pasal Kalau cemburu cakaplah cemburu Tak payahlah nak marah aku depan orang ramai Buat malu muka aku je Kurang ajar betullah Akmal ni Pagi-pagi macam ni dah rosakkan mood aku “Akmal Jo kenapa ni” termengah-mengah Shafiq bertanya Sebaik sahaja mendapat tahu Akmal menyerang Jo di kafeteria universiti Shafiq terus berlari ke sini Manalah tahu Akmal buat sesuatu yang tak diduga ke orang tengah marah Bukannya ingat apa pun “Kau tanyalah kawan baik kau ni apa dia tak puas hati sangat dengan aku” Aku pantas meninggalkan kawasan kafeteria Tanpa disedari air mataku menitis laju Gilalah kau Akmal Sampai hati kau marah aku depan orang ramai jatuhkan air muka aku Kau ingat aku tak de perasaan kePagi ini memang meninggalkan sejarah dalam hidup aku Aku terus mohon pertukaran ke Australia untuk semesta seterusnya Aku tak beritahu Akmal Shafiq pun tak Hubungan aku dengan Akmal memang dah hancur Shafiq pun macam nak jauhkan diri je dari aku Mestilah dia backup best friend dia4 tahun kemudian… “Johanna this is Shafiq Aizudin Dia akan memantau kerja-kerja awak dalam sebulan ni” beritahu Encik Hakimi Aku macam pernah dengar nama Shafiq Aizudin tu Siapa hah Perlahan-lahan aku menoleh ke arah pemilik nama Shafiq Aizudin ni Betul ke apa yang aku tengok ni Shafiq Dia pun macam tak percaya aje tengok muka aku Dari atas sampai ke bawah dia tengok aku Tak senonoh betullah tengok aku macam tu depan Encik Hakimi “Johanna Melissa you can call me Hanna” pantas aku memperkenalkan diri aku pada Shafiq Tak naklah Encik Hakimi fikir yang bukan-bukan “Shafiq” balas Shafiq pendek “Shafiq saya serahkan Johanna di bawah kelolaan awak” Encik Hakimi memaklumkan kepada Shafiq sebelum dia meninggalkan aku dengan Shafiq “Jo lama tak…” “Hanna” pantas aku membetulkan nama panggilanku “Sorry Hanna” ucapnya sambil tersenyum kelat Aku memang dah berubah Shafiq Aku tak nak hidup dengan nama Jo lagi Semuanya sebab kawan baik kau yang malukan aku Sebelum ni tak pernah ada sesiapa pun yang mempersoalkan kehidupan aku Lihatlah Johanna Melissa yang baru Rambut ni sengaja aku bela panjang nampaklah yang aku ni lebih feminim “Mana kau menghilang Hanna Pergi macam tu je” “Aku malu Fiq Ada ke patut Akmal serang aku macam tu Dia tak boleh cakap baik-baik ke dengan aku” “Hanna salah aku Dia suka kat kau Dia rasa tercabar bila kau keluar dengan aku tapi tolak pelawaan dia” beritahu Shafiq Shafiq ni tak kesian kat aku ke Akmal yang salah tu dibackupnya Tapi betul ke Shafiq cakap tadi Akmal suka kat aku Kalau suka kenapa tak berteus terang je dengan aku Kenapa dia ada ramai awek Nak menguji aku ke “Kenapa dia tak cakap dengan aku” “Dia malu Sebab kau… tak macam perempuan” lambat-lambat Shafiq menuturkannya Sebab tu ke Bodohlah Akmal ni Dia tak tahu ke yang aku ni separuh gila sayang kat dia Selama ni aku tak pernah ambil peduli kalau dia marah kat aku Cuma peristiwa kat kafeteria tu meninggalkan kesan yang begitu mendalam dalam hidup aku Tak pernah aku kena malu depan orang ramai Rasanya barulah aku tahu langit tu tinggi ke rendah Manalah aku tahu dia malu nak cakap pada aku yang dia suka sebab aku ni tak macam perempuan Dia selalu bagi hintlah Johanna Melissa Aku je yang tak faham Aku mana tahu bahasa kiasan ni lainlah kalau aku ambil sastera “Akmal macam mana sekarang ni” “Akmal ada kat Johor Nantilah aku bawak kau jumpa dia Mesti dia happy kalau tahu kau datang nak jenguk dia” Sekejap aje rasanya masa sebulan berlalu Maksudnya tempoh percubaan aku selama sebulan dah pun berakhir Shafiq banyak bagi tunjuk ajar kat aku selok belok dunia seorang jurutera mekanikal ni Encik Hakimi pun nampaknya sangat berpuas hati dengan pencapaian aku Rasanya peluang aku untuk bekerja tetap kat sini ada dalam 70% “Hanna hujung minggu ni kau ikut aku balik Johor nak” “Balik Johor” “A?ah Aku nak bawak kau jumpa Akmal” Betul ke ni Aku dapat jumpa Akmal semula Menyambung kembali kasih kami yang dah terputus “Okey” dengan senang hatinya aku bersetuju untuk mengikut Shafiq “Akmal dah hampir dua tahun dekat sini Hanna” beritahu Shafiq Aku terkedu seketika Ni bukan ke kawasan perkuburan Akmal dah tak ada ke Apa ni Kenapa Shafiq tak beritahu aku awal-awal lagi Sebulan aku tunggu untuk jumpa Akmal tapi dia bawak aku pergi kawasan tanah perkuburan “Akmal dah dua tahun meninggal kerana accident” Shafiq merungkaikan segala yang berselirat dalam otak aku “Kenapa kau tak beritahu aku awal-awal lagi Shafiq” tanyaku Air matuku sudah tumpah Tipulah kalau aku tak sedih dengan pemergian Akmal “Aku tak tahu nak cakap macam mana Aku tahu kau pun suka kat dia Maafkan aku Hanna Aku tak berniat nak tipu kau” “Hanna sebelum Akmal pergi dia ada tinggalkan surat untuk kau” ujar Shafiq Dia menyerahkan sampul surat bewarna putih kepadaku “Fiq hantar aku balik KL semula” pintaku Sebenarnya Shafiq sudah berjanji untuk membawa aku bertemu dengan keluarga Akmal Tetapi setelah mengetahui Akmal sudah tiada lagi aku rasa tidak bersedia untuk berhadapan dengan keluarga lelaki itu Sampai saatnya nanti aku akan bertemu juga dengan keluarga Akmal Berkongsi kesedihan dengan mereka Buat Johanna Melissa… Jo aku harap kau dapat baca isi hati aku hingga ke akhirnya walaupun kau masih menyimpan perasaan benci terhadap aku Maafkan aku Jo di atas kekasaran aku di kafeteria dulu Tika itu kemarahan menguasai diri aku Tak patut aku malukan kau depan orang ramai pagi tu Aku tak sengaja Jo Aku tak pernah terniat nak lukakan hati kau Selama ni kau okey je kalau aku marah kau Tak sangka pulak peristiwa pagi tu membuatkan kau terasa hati hingga sanggup membawa diri Puas aku carik kau tapi tak pernah bertemu Agaknya luka kat hati kau tu besar sangat kot Aku menyesal bila dapat tahu kau menghilangkan diri Aku suka kat kau sejak hari pertama aku jumpa dengan kau Aku menyenangi sikap yang ada diri kau yang membuat aku jadi seorang penagih cinta dari Johanna Melissa Maafkan aku kerana tidak berterus terang dengan kau Aku malu untuk menerima kehadiran diri kau hanya kerana kau tak berpewatakan seperti seorang perempuan Marah aku bersebab Jo Aku nak kau jadi macam perempuan-perempuan lain Yang penuh dengan keayuan Aku tak nak orang mengata aku ni dah terdesak nak bercinta sampai tomboy macam kau pun aku sapu Kerana itulah aku cuba mengubah kau Tapi kau tak pernah faham bahasa kiasan akuKesabaran aku ada hadnya Bila Shafiq mula baik dengan kau aku rasa tercabar Kenapa Shafiq yang kau layan Kenapa bukan aku Agaknya sebab Shafiq tu seorang yang caring Aku tak macam tu kan Aku selalu berkasar dengan kau Shafiq adalah orang yang akan menawar segala racun yang aku siram pada kauShafiq bukan hanya sekadar sahabat karib aku Dia sudah aku anggap seperti saudara kembarku Aku tidak punya sesiapa di dunia ini Kelahiranku tidak disambut dengan hati gembira oleh ibu bapaku Lalu aku dicampakkan di tepi jalan Di situlah aku bertemu dengan papa dan mama Shafiq Aku dibela bagaikan anak kandung mereka sendiri Mereka merupakan ibu bapa yang baik dan prihatin seperti ShafiqTika kau baca warkah ni aku mungkin dah tak de kat dunia ni Aku tak tahu lagi kat mana nak carik kau Pada Shafiqlah aku sandarkan harapan Mencari seorang Johanna Melissa yang aku sayangi Aku tahu Shafiq juga sayangkan kau sebagaimana aku sayangkan kau Terimalah dia dalam hidup kauYang menyintaimuAkmal HadiJumaat 17 Jun 2005 Aku melipat kemas warkah dari Akmal Aku dah maafkan kau Akmal Selama ini aku tak pernah tahu sejarah hidup kau Manalah aku tahu yang kau dengan Shafiq tinggal sebumbung “Ni kenapa termenung sorang-sorang” soal Shafiq Aku tersenyum “Nanti baby pun ikut macam mama dia asyik berangan je” bebel Shafiq lagi Aduhai ni yang panas telinga aku dengar Mana ada aku berangan Aku cuma teringat cerita-cerita zaman silam aku dulu “Abang ni selalu sakat Hanna tau” “Mana ada Hanna tu je yang makin sensatif sejak mengandung ni Abang usik sikit tak boleh” ujar Shafiq seakan merajuk “Janganlah merajuk Hanna bukannya pandai memujuk” ujarku Shafiq tersenyum Dia pantas mendapatkan aku dan membelai perutku Baru lima bulan tidak berapa ketara lagi Inilah hasil buah cinta aku dan Shafiq Betul kata Akmal Shafiq memang seorang yang prihatin Macam aku berangan dulu-dulu kalau aku jadi isteri Shafiq kerja aku goyang kaki je Macam sekarang ni Shafiq dah ambil alih tugas aku Memasak membasuk mengemas rumah semuanya diurus oleh Shafiq Dia kata aku berehat je jaga kesihatan aku dengan baby Itulah buat kali pertama dan terakhir jarak kami berdua sedekat itu. Dah tidak ada kerja ke ” bicara ku sendiri.
STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: December 24, 2004; Updated Dec. 25 @ 12:50 a.m. EST following news briefingEditor’s note…All times in the following story refer to Earth-received time, i.e., when events are confirmed to have happened, not the actual time an event happens at Saturn. One-way light time from Saturn to Earth currently is about 68 minutes.In a long-awaited milestone, a European-built probe carrying cameras anda suite of scientific instruments was released from NASA’s Cassini Saturnorbiter Christmas Eve, setting up a dramatic Jan. 14 plunge into theatmosphere of the ringed planet’s mysterious moon Titan. An artist’s concept shows Cassini deploying Huygens. Credit: ESAEjected by springs designed to impart a 7-rpm rotation for stability, theHuygens probe was jettisoned from the Cassini mothership around 10:08 p.m.EST. Flight controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,Calif., verified a clean separation 16 minutes later.”The short story is the release went absolutely nominally,” said EarlMaize, Cassini deputy program manager. “As near as we can tell from all thetelemetry we’ve seen, we’ve had a perfect separation. The release sequencewas executed on board the spacecraft at 7:07 this evening Pacific StandardTime. We were out of radio contact at the time, we expected the release toimpart a recoil to the spacecraft and it would take it some minutes torecover radio contact with the Earth. We got back into contact at 7:24 andtelemetry soon thereafter verified that all of the events went just as weexpected.”Data from Cassini showed the main umbilical between the mothership andHuygens was severed as expected, pyrotechnic devices fired as planned andthe orbiter recoiled as engineers predicted it would.”So we have every expectation that the release was perfectly nominal,”Maize told reporters in an early Christmas Day teleconference. “The radiocontact was right on the spot and detailed analysis is in progress.”Said Jean-Pierre Lebreton, European Space Agency Huygens projectscientist: “I feel very happy. We are now on our way to Titan. It will take20 days and a big day is in front of us on the 14th of January.”Cassini will attempt to photograph the departing Huygens probe latertoday to more precisely determine its trajectory.”We wish to congratulate our European partners as their journey beginsand wish them well on their descent to Titan,” Robert Mitchell, Cassiniprogram manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., saidearlier in a statement. “We are very excited to see the probe off and tohave accomplished this part of our job. Now we’re ready to finish our part -receiving and relaying the Huygens data back to Earth.”If all goes well, the flying saucer-shaped Huygens will slam into Titan’shydrocarbon-rich atmosphere around 5:13 a.m. Jan. 14 at a velocity of some12,400 mph.Descending through the moon’s smoggy atmosphere under parachutes, Huygenswill finally reach the surface some two-and-a-half hours after atmosphericentry. Throughout the descent, data from Huygens’ instruments will betransmitted to Cassini, flying past the moon nearly 40,000 miles away,stored on digital recorders and later re-transmitted to Earth.Huygens represents one of the most ambitious space projects everattempted by the European Space Agency and one that if successful, willreveal a new world to the gaze of eager scientists.”Today’s release is another successful milestone in the Cassini-Huygensodyssey,” David Southwood, science director for the European Space Agency,said in a statement. “This was an amicable separation after seven years ofliving together. Our thanks to our partners at NASA for the lift. Eachspacecraft will now continue on its own but we expect they’ll keep in touchto complete this amazing mission. Now all our hopes and expectations arefocused on getting the first in-situ data from a new world we’ve beendreaming of exploring for decades.” The stage was set for the probe’s release Dec. 16 when flight controllersat JPL carried out orbital trim maneuver No. 8, an 84.9-second main enginefiring that put Cassini – and Huygens – on a collision course with Titan.With Huygens now safely on its way, Cassini’s engine will be fired againDec. 27 to move the mother ship off the current impact trajectory and set upthe proper geometry to relay data during the entry probe’s descent.A timeline of critical upcoming events is available . An artist’s concept shows Huygens en route to Titan. Credit: ESATo reach Titan’s surface, Huygens first must survive its high-speedplunge into the moon’s atmosphere. After slowing to about 870 mph due toatmospheric friction, Huygens’ aft cover will be pulled away by a pilotchute and the spacecraft’s 27-foot-wide main parachute will deploy. Thechute will be jettisoned 15 minutes after entry begins and from that pointon, Huygens will ride beneath a smaller 9.8-foot-wide parachute. Impact onthe surface at some 11 mph is expected around 7:31 a.m. on Jan. 14Assuming the 705-pound Huygens doesn’t splash down in a hydrocarbon lake,”we have good confidence the probe will survive landing,” said Jean-PierreLebreton, European Space Agency project scientist. “The landing speed isvery low and there is a very good probability the probe will survive landingand we have capability to do measurements for half an hour on the surface.During the three-hour measurement phase, the probe will transmit its data tothe overflying orbiter.”The original flight plan called for Huygens to enter Titan’s atmospherein late November as Cassini streaked overhead at an altitude of just 746miles. But engineers were forced to delay Huygens’ arrival to Januarybecause of an issue with the radio aboard the Cassini mothership that willbe used to relay data from Huygens to Earth.During a post-launch test, engineers discovered the radio receiver couldnot cope with the Doppler shift in the frequency of the signal coming fromHuygens due to Cassini’s high relative velocity. Much like the pitch of asiren changes as a police car races past a stationary observer, thefrequency of radio waves can shift a significant amount if relativevelocities are high enough.”Originally, the closing speed of Cassini coming up on Huygens, which isfor all practical purposes sitting still once it’s in the atmosphere, theclosing speed was about 5.8 kilometers per second (13,000 mph),” Mitchellsaid in a recent interview. “We were coming in almost dead overhead andgoing off to the right at about 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) altitude.”The solution was to minimize the Doppler shift by reducing the relativevelocities of the two spacecraft. That was accomplished by changingCassini’s trajectory slightly and delaying Huygens’ release to ChristmasEve. During the Jan. 14 descent, Cassini now will be 37,300 miles from Titanand the difference in velocity between the two spacecraft will never be morethan 8,500 mph.”We have pretty solid evidence that’s going to work,” Mitchell said. “Wedid some tests where we used the Deep Space Network stations transmitting anS-band signal with telemetry modulated onto the carrier so that from thereceiver’s point of view on the Cassini spacecraft, it should have simulatedthe probe quite accurately. We adjusted the frequency, taking into accountthe motion of everything, so that the frequency of the received signal atthe receiver should very closely if not exactly match the frequency that thereceiver will see coming from Huygens.” The tests were successful and a potentially crippling design flaw wasresolved with no significant loss of science. And the scientific communitycan’t wait to get that data. An artist’s concept shows the Huygens craft making its descent to Titan on Jan. 14. Credit: ESABigger than the planet Mercury, Titan is the only moon in the solarsystem with a thick atmosphere, one in which hydrocarbons are believed tofall as rain, possibly forming liquid ethane pools on the moon’s ultra-coldsurface.Cassini flew past Titan in late October, beaming back pictures and radardata that revealed a strange, striated landscape with sharply defined brightand dark regions. Few clouds were present and no large craters wereapparent, indicating tectonic, volcanic or depositional processes at workthat have resurfaced the moon on a global scale.But there was no clear evidence of lakes or pools of liquid ethane orsimilar materials that many scientists believe must be present given themoon’s ultra-low temperature, high atmospheric pressure and hydrocarbonchemistry.In short, Titan’s mysteries withstood Cassini’s initial scientificassault.”We’ve been saying for a long time now that Titan was the largest expanseof unexplored terrain in the solar system,” said imaging team leader CarolynPorco, a leading expert on Saturn’s rings. “And what remains hidden underthe atmosphere and under the haze, the conditions at its surface, itsgeological history and so on are, at least in my mind, the solar system’slast great mystery.”Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini orbiter snaps Saturn’s family portrait CASSINI NEWS RELEASEPosted: September 13, 2004 A stately Saturn poses for a portrait with five of its moons in this Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera view. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version Satellites visible in this image are (clockwise from upper left): Dione (1,118 kilometers or 695 miles wide), Enceladus (499 kilometers or 310 miles wide), Tethys (1,060 kilometers or 659 miles wide), Mimas (398 kilometers or 247 miles wide) and Rhea (1,528 kilometers or 949 miles wide). The image was taken in visible red light at a distance of 7.8 million kilometers (4.8 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 464 kilometers (288 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini photos thrill, mystify scientists BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: January 14, 2005NASA’s Cassini Saturn orbiter began downlinking science data from theEuropean Space Agency’s Huygens probe at 11:19 a.m. EST (1619 GMT), confirming thespacecraft not only survived its high-speed plunge into the atmosphere ofSaturn’s moon, Titan, but that its instruments worked to remotely exploreone of the strangest worlds in the solar system.”Cassini has just started to deliver the data collected during thedescent,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of the Eruopean SpaceAgency. “This is a fantastic success for Europe!”Cassini and Huygens mission managers, scientists and engineers eruptedin cheers and applause when the first data packets began showing up oncomputers screens at the European Space Agency’s Space Operations Center inGermany. Successful reception of science data capped a morning of high dramaand ended any uncertainty that Europe had achieved one of its mostimpressive engineering and scientific triumphs.”All instruments are on,” a flight controller told the Huygens team.Mission managers already knew Cassini had survived its hellish plungeinto Titan’s atmosphere and had made it to the moon’s surface because of anunimaginably faint carrier signal that was detected by a network ofEarth-based radio telescopes. The signal, some 50 quadrillion times weakerthan a typical FM radio signal in a car radio, proved Huygens had survivedentry, deployed its main parachute and activated critical subsystems. Thesignal lasted more than two hours after the predicted landing, but it didnot carry any scientific data. It was merely a tone and while it showed thecraft was alive, it didn’t prove whether it had accomplished its scientificobjectives.But the European spacecraft apparently worked as advertised and right onschedule, after Cassini dropped below Titan’s horizon, the NASA mothershipturned back toward Earth and began transmitting data from Huygens’ suite ofsix instruments.”So the morning was good. The afternoon is better,” Dordain said at anews conference. “This morning, we had an engineering success and we can saythis afternoon that we also have a scientific success. We are the firstvisitors to Titan and the scientific data we are collecting now shall unveilthe secrets of this new world.”It will take several hours for mission scientists and engineers toextract and stitch together pictures from the data stream, but the firstpanoramic views showing the surface of Titan as Huygens descended throughits hazy atmosphere may be available between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.”The torch has been handed off from the engineers … who’ve done theirjob of delivering the probe and delivering the data back,” said DavidSouthwood, European Space Agency science director. “Now the scientists startwork. We’re going to be working, I think, very hard in the next hours anddays but in fact, this data is data for posterity.”This is a historic event. I don’t think it’s likely in the lifetime ofanyone in this room that we will repeat a landing on Titan. so this is thedata, it’s for posterity, it’s for mankind. But it’s got to be unraveled,it’s got to be put together and then scientists, being scientists, are goingto argue about what it means as we piece together our place in the universeand how we came to be. I think this is a very major step forward. But it’sonly the beginning for our science teams.”NASA science chief Al Diaz choked back tears as he called the probemission “a tremendous success.””This really is another first,” he said. “There will only be a firstsuccessful landing on Titan and this was it. The European Space Agencydeserves a tremendous amount of credit. We’re glad we could have been apartner.”Claudio Sollazzo, ESA’s Huygens operations manager, said engineers wereinvestigating the apparent loss of data from one of two channels, or chains,of telemetry from Huygens. But he said the spacecraft was fully redundantand that “we can ensure that so far, on chain B, we see everything wentwell.””The probe went through the entry phase and the (main) parachute wasdeployed essentially at the time we predicted,” he said. “We are anxious tosee what we call the history data, the telemetry that was recorded on boardthe probe before even the back cover came off so we can reconstruct how theprobe entered the atmosphere. This is very important information for thescientists to know how the higher atmospheric layers are. it is also veryimportant for the engineering community.”Data on chain B showed “the batteries are OK, the computers worked asexpected, the software shows healthy status and instrument status as far aswe could receive … were nominal,” Sollazzo said. “The internal temperatureof the probe was about 25 degrees centigrade. So … our instruments areworking at a very comfortable temperature.”One of Huygens’ six experiments, the Doppler Wind Experiment, relied inpart on chain A of the probe’s communications system. It was designed tomeasure wind speeds by detecting subtle changes in the frequency of radiotransmissions as th craft is blown this way or that. If chain A did notwork, scientists will lose measurements of that shift between Huygens andCassini. But Sollazzo said similar measurements from Earth-based radiotelescopes will allow scientists to collect similar data to make up theshortfall, assuming the data on chain A is, in fact, lost.”We have a wonderful mission on Titan,” he said, “and we are eager todeliver the data to our scientists on time and then they will go on andanalyze the data and we should get some interesting results later tonight.”Video coverage for subscribers only:VIDEO:STATUS REPORT DURING DESCENT AUDIO:TODAY’S STATUS REPORT DURING DESCENT VIDEO:HUYGENS PRE-ARRIVAL NEWS BRIEFING AUDIO:HUYGENS PRE-ARRIVAL NEWS BRIEFING VIDEO:OVERVIEW OF HUYGENS PROBE’S SCIENCE OBJECTIVES VIDEO:JULY NEWS BRIEFING ON CASSINI’S PICTURES OF TITAN VIDEO:PICTURES SHOWING TITAN SURFACE FROM OCT. FLYBY VIDEO:WHAT’S KNOWN ABOUT TITAN BEFORE THE FIRST FLYBY VIDEO:NARRATED MOVIE OF CLOUDS MOVING NEAR SOUTH POLE VIDEO:OCT. BRIEFING ON RADAR IMAGES OF TITAN SURFACE Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Huygens test successful EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY NEWS RELEASEPosted: September 19, 2004ESA’s Huygens probe, now orbiting Saturn on board the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft, is in good health and successfully passed its fifteenth ‘In-Flight Checkout’ on 14 September 2004. An artist’s concept shows Huygens parachuting to Titan after deployment from the Cassini orbiter. Credit: EADS AstriumThis in-flight checkout procedure was the last but one planned before separation of the Huygens probe from Cassini in December this year, and it included some specific activities that were intended to prepare for the separation. The main difference in this procedure from previous checkouts was that there was a test of the Master Timer Unit (MTU). Because Huygens will spend three weeks coasting towards Titan following separation from the Cassini orbiter, its systems and instruments are powered down. The MTU is the ‘triple-redundant’ alarm-clock that has the most important job of waking up Huygens a few hours before its entry into Titan’s atmosphere. The checkout also included some specific payload activities required to configure the Huygens instruments before separation. The procedure was carried out live, with Cassini transmitting the data to Earth in real-time. However the data arrived on Earth with an 80-minute delay as this is the time taken for light, and therefore radio signals, to travel the distance between Saturn and Earth. The preliminary analysis of the real-time data received, performed within 12 hours after the test, indicates that the MTU test was successful, and that all instruments performed as expected.Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Spaceflight Now +Premium video content for our Spaceflight Now Plus subscribers.Huygens mission scienceAfter entering orbit around Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft will launch the European Huygens probe to make a parachute landing on the surface of the moon Titan. The scientific objectives of Huygens are explained by probe project manager Jean-Pierre Lebreton. (3min 14sec file)Saturn’s moon TitanLearn more about Saturn’s moon Titan, which is believed to harbor a vast ocean, in this narrated movie. (4min 01sec file)Relive Cassini’s launchAn Air Force Titan 4B rocket launches NASA’s Cassini spacecraft at 4:43 a.m. October 15, 1997 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. (5min 15sec file)Iapetus: A view from the top CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: January 9, 2004This oblique view of Saturn’s moon Iapetus from high latitude shows how the dark, heavily cratered terrain of Cassini Regio transitions to a bright, icy terrain at high latitudes. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version In this mosaic of two high resolution images taken during Cassini’s New Year’s Eve 2004 flyby of Iapetus, the direction toward the north pole is approximately 15 degrees below the horizontal on the right. At the equator terrains are uniformly covered with a dark mantle of material that has a reflectivity of about 4 percent. At latitudes toward the pole of about 40 degrees, the dark deposits become patchy and diffuse as the surface transitions to a much brighter, icy terrain near the pole. The brightest icy materials exhibit visual reflectivity over 60 percent. Superimposed on the bright terrain is a subtle, ghostly pattern of crudely parallel, north-south trending wispy streaks. The streaks, which were discovered during this flyby of Iapetus, are typically a few kilometers wide and sometimes tens of kilometers long. Their appearance and orientation may be connected with the emplacement of dark materials that cover Cassini Regio. The dark materials might represent the gradual accumulation of dark debris falling from space, or alternatively, may represent fallout from plume-style eruptions that may have accompanied the formation of Iapetus’s enigmatic equatorial ridge. Also seen in this mosaic are conspicuous, north-facing bright crater walls. An example can be seen in the upper left where the bright, 4-kilometer-high (2.5 miles) walls of a 70 kilometer (44 mile) central-peak crater lies. The bright crater walls are often higher in brightness than the corresponding south-facing walls of the same crater. They are vaguely reminiscent of bright north-facing crater walls that were discovered by NASA’s Voyager and Galileo spacecraft in craters near the poles of the Jovian satellites Callisto and Ganymede. In the case of the Jovian satellites, cold-trapping of frosts on north-facing slopes and sublimation of ices from south-facing slopes are thought to produce the north-south asymmetries in crater wall brightness. However, the occurrence of some young-appearing craters on Iapetus that have bright north-facing and dark south-facing slopes, and the pattern of streaks near the north pole of Iapetus suggests that another mechanism may be responsible for the crater wall brightness asymmetries on Iapetus. One possibility is that the south-facing slopes may be stained by the same process that emplaced the low brightness coating throughout the region. In this case, the north-pointing scarps might be bright because they face away and are shielded from the putative falling spray of dark materials. Bright south-facing slopes would exist primarily on young craters that have not been exposed to the darkening agent long enough to be stained. The image was obtained in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Dec. 31, 2004, at a distance of about 123,370 kilometers (76,658 miles) from Iapetus and at a Sun-Iapetus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 93 degrees. Resolution achieved in the original image was 732 meters (2,401 feet) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Instrument aims at Saturn’s space environment JHU-APL NEWS RELEASEPosted: June 30, 2004As NASA’s Cassini-Huygens spacecraft begins its four-year orbital tour of the Saturn system, mission scientists will use an innovative imaging device to deliver the most detailed look yet at the relationship between the Sun, the giant ringed planet and the diverse collection of moons looping around it.The Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument – or MIMI – is one of 12 science instruments on the main Cassini spacecraft, set to enter orbit around Saturn on July 1 (EDT). The MIMI experiment, an international team effort led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Md., includes three distinct sensors that will profile the environment of charged particles at Saturn and obtain the first visible, global images of Saturn’s magnetosphere.”Until now, measuring a planet’s magnetic field and charged particle environment – its magnetosphere – has been difficult,” says Dr. Stamatios (Tom) Krimigis, of APL, MIMI principal investigator. “A spacecraft can measure it at one point when it flies past a planet, but you don’t know what’s happening somewhere else and you never get the entire picture. With our instrument, and from orbit around the planet, we’ll be able to look at the changing patterns and dynamics of Saturn’s space weather – actually see how it reacts to the solar wind over time and how it affects the surfaces and atmospheres of the moons embedded in the magnetosphere.”MIMI’s sensors combine three critical measurements to create that picture. Its high-energy particle detector (developed by APL, the Max Plank Institute and a number of co-investigator institutions) looks at the distribution and strength of energetic ions and electrons near the spacecraft. Its charge-energy mass spectrometer (built by the University of Maryland, College Park) measures the charge and determines the elemental composition of these particles.MIMI’s ion and neutral camera takes a wider approach, using an APL-developed technique known as energetic neutral atom imaging to provide a global view of the entire magnetosphere – a deep-space mission first. The camera detects the “glow” of energized particles trapped in the planet’s magnetic field, which will allow scientists to make three-dimensional images of the compression and expansion of Saturn’s magnetosphere as it’s buffeted by the solar wind, or as it sends streams of particles toward the surfaces of Titan and other nearby satellites.”Magnetospheres can change dramatically over a matter of hours to days, so flybys such as the Voyager spacecrafts’ only yield a snapshot in time and space,” says MIMI Instrument Scientist Dr. Donald Mitchell, of APL. “With Cassini we’re going to get years and years of nearly continuous data, which will give us a much more complete understanding of this complex system. We’ll be able to watch the whole dynamic between the sun and Saturn, and the planet and its moons.”The camera was pointed toward Saturn’s magnetosphere four months ago and has already collected impressive data, Mitchell says. MIMI had a successful test run during Cassini’s flight past Jupiter in late 2000-early 2001, providing scientists with never-before-seen images of the giant planet’s magnetosphere and underlying dynamics; a huge nebula of particles – spewed from volcanoes on the moon Io – enveloping Jupiter and extending some 22 million kilometers (13 million miles) past the planet; and a large and surprisingly dense gas cloud sharing an orbit with Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.While the mission at Saturn is just beginning, Krimigis expects MIMI’s data will eventually give scientists a better understanding of the space environment closer to home.”Planetary magnetic fields have a lot in common, even if the planets themselves are very different,” he says. “We hope to find some of the characteristics that affect both the Earth and Saturn, and feed this knowledge back into the models we have for space weather at Earth. Then we can devise accurate space weather forecasts that give advance warning of the electromagnetic storms that affect our satellites, communications, power grids and other technological systems.”Including the APL-built MIMI, half of Cassini’s instruments are designed to investigate the space environments around Saturn and its moons. Cassini – launched on Oct. 15, 1997 – will also release its piggybacked Huygens probe, built by the European Space Agency (ESA), this December for descent through the thick atmosphere of the moon Titan.The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the $3.3-billion mission for NASA’s office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The MIMI team includes investigators and expertise from APL; the University of Maryland, College Park; University of Kansas, Lawrence; University of Arizona, Tucson; Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J.; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Lindau, Germany; and the Centre d’Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements in Toulouse, France.The Applied Physics Laboratory, a division of The Johns Hopkins University, meets critical national challenges through the innovative application of science and technology.Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Latest color pictures from Cassini look like artwork CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: August 19, 2004NASA has released three new stunning color pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft exploring the planet Saturn. The images show the giant planet, its golden rings and several moons. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of ArizonaDownload larger image version FIRST IMAGE: Saturn’s atmosphere is prominently shown with the rings emerging from behind the planet at upper right. The two moons on the left of the image are Mimas and Enceladus. This image was taken on August 8, 2004, with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera in red, green, and blue filters. This image was taken 8.5 million kilometers (5.3 million miles) from Saturn. Contrast has been enhanced to aid visibility. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of ArizonaDownload larger image version SECOND IMAGE: Saturn’s rings appear golden as the planet’s shadow drapes across nearly the whole span of the rings. In the upper left corner is Saturn’s moon Mimas. This color image was taken on August 15, 2004, with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera, using the red, green, and blue filters. The image was taken 8.8 million kilometers (5.5 million miles) from Saturn. Contrast has been enhanced to aid visibility. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of ArizonaDownload larger image version THIRD IMAGE: Saturn and its rings are prominently shown in this color image, along with three of Saturn’s smaller moons. From left to right, they are Prometheus, Pandora and Janus. Prometheus and Pandora are often called the “F ring shepherds” as they control and interact with Saturn’s interesting F ring, seen between them. This image was taken on June 18, 2004, with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera 8.2 million kilometers (5.1 million miles) from Saturn. It was created using the red, green, and blue filters. Contrast has been enhanced to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Mission has faced many hurdles and challenges BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR & USED WITH PERMISSIONPosted: July 1, 2004; Updated at 2:10 a.m. EDTNASA’s $3.3 billion Cassini probe completed a seven-year, 2.2-billion mile voyage tonight, firing its main engine for a nerve-wracking 96 minutes to successfully brake into orbit around the ringed planet Saturn. Credit: ESAThroughout the all-or-nothing rocket firing, flight controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., could only sit and wait, monitoring events that had already taken place 934 million miles away. At that distance, radio signals, moving at 186,000 miles per second, needed an hour and 24 minutes to complete a one-way trip between Saturn and Earth. As a result, Cassini’s on-board computer was responsible for carrying out the most critical maneuver since launch Oct. 15, 1997, a maneuver that simply had to work or the mission would end in failure. To everyone’s relief, Cassini’s main engine fired up on time at 10:36 p.m. EDT and shut down at 12:12 a.m., putting the craft in its planned initial orbit around Saturn. “Flight, telecom,” the Cassini communications officer called out. “The Doppler has flattened out.” Translation: Cassini’s engine had shut down and Cassini was in orbit. Flight controllers burst into cheers, sharing hugs and high fives as Cassini lived up to its reputation for near flawless operation. “It feels awfully good to be in orbit around the lord of the rings,” said Charles Elachi, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “It’s going to be a huge leap in our understanding of the Saturnian system.” Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for space science, described the rocket firing as 96 minutes of purgatory during a news briefing Wednesday. Halfway through the burn, “I started to think gee, here we are sitting on this little pale blue dot, third rock from the sun. We just landed on Mars twice. We flew by a comet and picked up some comet dust (with the Stardust mission) and all within six months, we’re about to go into orbit around a planet a billion miles away. How do we get away with having so much fun? “This has just been an incredible ride,” he said. “This wasn’t NASA going into orbit around Saturn, it’s the Earth going into orbit around Saturn because 17 countries made this happen. This is the way exploration should be done: by the Earth.” David Southwood, director of science for the European Space Agency agreed Cassini is a “world mission.” “But this evening I have to say, it’s been the Americans’ evening,” he said. “This was America doing it right. … There are Europeans involved in just about everything in the instrumentation, the science on Cassini and Huygens. It really is a mission where everybody is working together. “But this evening, you guys did it right,” he said. “Thank you JPL, thank you USA, thank you NASA.” Referring to ESA’s Huygens probe, which will make a parachute descent into the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan in January, Southwood said the Saturn Orbit Insertion rocket firing would be a tough act to follow and “we have now to get it right, too.” “You really showed us how it’s done. It was a very professional show and frighteningly on the nail. We’ve got a lot to live up to. Thank you everybody. It’s been a great eveing.” The most sophisticated – and expensive – robotic spacecraft ever built, Cassini approached Saturn from below the plane of its rings. Using its high-gain antenna as a shield, the spacecraft sailed through the ring plane at 10:11 p.m., passing through a broad gap between Saturn’s F and G rings. The region was thought to be empty of any debris larger than dust grains, but at Cassini’s enormous approach velocity – more than 53,000 mph at that point – impacts posed a major concern. But right on schedule, after Cassini re-oriented itself for the Saturn Orbit Insertion rocket firing, ground stations in Australia and California picked up Cassini’s radio carrier signal at 10:27 p.m. EDT, confirming the spacecraft had survived the ascending ring plane crossing. “One hurdle down, one to go,” said Todd Barber, lead propulsion officer. “We’re approaching two minutes before the SOI burn. The hopes and dreams of thousands of scientists and engineers are resting on the next few moments. So Godspeed, Cassini-Huygens. May we see you in orbit.” And with that, the moment of truth was finally at hand. As timers counted down to the start of the Saturn Orbit Insertion rocket firing, engineers at JPL monitored computer screens showing a graphical representation of the carrier signal from Cassini. They were looking for a very precise, predicted change in the frequency of the signal due to the effects of the rocket firing, much like a siren changes pitch as a police car races past. And right on schedule, at 10:36 p.m., the signal changed exactly as predicted. On computer screens, a horizontal line representing the carrier frequency suddenly bent sharply downward, matching the slope predicted for a normal rocket firing. Flight controllers burst into applause, relieved to know Rocket Engine Assembly A had fired on time to begin slowing Cassini’s ever-increasing velocity. Producing just 100 pounds of push against the enormous 54,000-mph velocity of the 9,970-pound Cassini, the main engine had to fire 96.4 minutes to produce the required deceleration and to ensure Saturn’s gravity could capture the spacecraft and warp its trajectory into the planned orbit. Thirty minutes into the burn, at 11:06 p.m., Cassini moved behind Saturn’s A ring as viewed from Earth, dimming the carrier signal for about 25 minutes. After fading in and out as it was blocked by ring debris, relatively clear reception was established at 10:31 p.m. when Cassini had a brief, clear view of Earth again through a gap in the rings known as the Cassini division. Six minutes later, exactly as predicted, communications dropped out again for 28 minutes or so as the spacecraft moved behind the thicker B ring. Still picking up speed from Saturn’s gravitational attraction, Cassini reached periapsis, the closest it will ever be to Saturn – 12,400 miles from the cloud tops – at 12:03 a.m., just nine minutes before the end of the SOI burn. By that point, Saturn’s gravity had boosted Cassini’s velocity to a blistering 69,350 mph, four times faster than a space shuttle in Earth orbit and 32 times faster than the bullet from an assault rifle. Waiting for the carrier signal to reappear from behind the B ring, Barber provided an impromptu Saturn weather report, predicting temperatures of “minus 226 degrees Fahrenheit, winds of 1,100 miles per hour or so, pressure highly variable depending on where you are in the atmosphere. At the top of the atmosphere, better than the best vacuum on Earth. Down in the depths, millions of atmospheres of pressure. Chance of helium rain inside the interior: 100 percent. Hurricanes the size of the Earth.” By the end of the SOI burn at 12:12 a.m., the velocity had dropped to around 68,000 mph as Cassini streaked away from the planet after close approach. While most reporters (including this writer) were not aware of it, navigators changed their prediction for the burn duration Wednesday, expecting 97 minutes instead of 96. Analysis of the carrier signal’s frequency showed the rocket engine actually generated about 1 percent more thrust than expected. Cassini’s flight computer compensated by shutting the engine down one minute early to achieve the planned deceleration of 1,400 mph. That translated into a 96-minute burn as originally expected. With the conclusion of the SOI rocket firing, Cassini was finally in its planned initial orbit around Saturn. Over the next four years, the spacecraft will study Saturn’s windy atmosphere, its complex ring system, several of its icy moons and how the planet’s magnetic field interacts with the space environment. In what promises to be one of the most exciting phases of the mission, a European-built probe called Huygens will be released from Cassini on Christmas Eve for a parachute descent into the thick nitrogen atmosphere of Saturn’s moon, Titan, on Jan. 14. In all, Cassini is expected to complete 77 orbits of Saturn over the next four years, requiring 157 trajectory-nudging rocket firings. The gravity of Titan will be used for major course changes, with 45 planned flybys. Seven close flybys of smaller, icy moons also are planned. Safely in orbit, Cassini turned so that its high-gain antenna was aimed back toward Earth for a brief, 20-second burst of carrier signal at 12:30 a.m. That switch from the low-gain to the high-gain antenna confirmed the spacecraft was operating normally and had not suffered any “safing” events during the burn that could have shut down science operations during Saturn close approach. “We’ve got it!” Barber reported as yet another round of cheers and applause burst out. After sending the brief call home, Cassini turned away to begin a 75-minute sequence of ring observations. “I feel great!” said program manager Bob Mitchell. “It was kind of a nail biter throughout.” One hour and 46 minutes after the end of the SOI burn, Cassini was expected to turn once again, orienting itself so the high-gain antenna could act as a shield during a descending ring plane crossing. Once safely through the ring plane, Cassini was expected to begin transmitting science and engineering data back to Earth. The first pictures were expected around 8:40 a.m. Thursday. On July 2, Cassini will make its first official flyby of Titan, passing the cloud-shrouded world at a distance of 205,000 miles. Larger than Pluto and Mercury, Titan’s thick nitrogen atmosphere is thought to mirror Earth’s shortly after the planet’s formation. Based on approach photos, Cassini’s cameras should be able to “see” the surface through specific spectral “windows.” But just how well the cameras will be able to image the surface won’t be known until after the Friday flyby. Data playback from the Titan flyby is expected to begin around 6:15 p.m. Friday. If all goes well, a minor trajectory correction maneuver is scheduled Saturday at 8:30 p.m. to fine tune the orbit with a predicted velocity change of just 11 mph. Starting July 6, Cassini will be out of contact while Saturn passes behind the sun as viewed from Earth, completing the initial phase of Cassini’s orbital mission. In late August, a major rocket firing is planned to raise the low point of Cassini’s orbit well beyond the rings and to set up the second Titan flyby Oct. 26. After another Titan flyby Dec. 13, the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe will be released from Cassini on Christmas Eve for the three-week trip to Titan. Huygens will slam into Titan’s atmosphere on Jan. 14 for a two-and-a-half-hour parachute descent to the surface. Data from Huygens, including panoramic pictures of its enigmatic surface, will be beamed back to Earth through Cassini’s radio system. After that, Cassini will continue on its own, flying through a ballet of ever-changing orbits and beaming down up to four gigabytes of data per day.Additional coverage for subscribers:VIDEO:CASSINI BEGINS ENGINE FIRING TO ENTER ORBIT VIDEO:BURN ENDS SUCCESSFULLY TO PUT CASSINI IN ORBIT VIDEO:POST-ARRIVAL NEWS CONFERENCE VIDEO:WEDNESDAY’S 12 P.M. EDT CASSINI STATUS BRIEFING VIDEO:A LOOK AT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION VIDEO:’RING-SIDE CHAT’ ABOUT SPACE EXPLORATION VIDEO:AN OVERVIEW OF CASSINI’S RADIO SCIENCE VIDEO:TUESDAY’S CASSINI MISSION OVERVIEW BRIEFING VIDEO:CASSINI’S ARRIVAL AT SATURN EXPLAINED VIDEO:SCIENCE OBJECTIVES FOR CASSINI ORBITER VIDEO:HUYGENS LANDER SCIENCE OBJECTIVES Stargaze II DVDThe Stargaze II DVD has arrived! It features over 65 minutes of all new videos of the universe with newly-composed dolby digital and DTS 5.1 Channel surround sound music. Choose your store: – – – Solar system poster This new poster is popular for classrooms and children’s bedrooms. It includes interesting facts and figures about the planets and their moons. Choose your store: – – – Apollo 15 DVD Relive on DVD the journey of Apollo 15, one of the great explorations of our time. This unique six-disc DVD set contains all the available television and 16mm film footage from the mission.Choose your store: – – – Shuttle patchesCollect the official mission patches for the first ten space shuttle flights and save off the regular price. Introducing the Space Shuttle Patch Collection.Choose your store: – – – | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini to examine Saturn’s mysterious ‘black’ moon NASA-AMES NEWS RELEASEPosted: June 9, 2004A NASA Ames planetary scientist is part of the science team that will study the data and images returned this week from the closest-ever flyby of Saturn’s moon Phoebe.The spectral data and images obtained from the June 11 flyby will help scientists determine the icy moon’s surface composition and properties. The Cassini spacecraft is closing in fast on its first target of observation in the Saturn system: the small, mysterious moon Phoebe, only 220 kilometers (137 miles) across. Left to right, the three views were captured between June 4 and June 7, from distances ranging from 2.6 million miles to 1.5 million miles. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version “This is a unique opportunity,” said Dr. Dale Cruikshank, co-investigator for the Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), an instrument that will measure the chemical signatures of Phoebe’s surface. “We’ve never had a close-up look at an irregular, low-reflective moon of any planet before, so we are prepared to be surprised,” he said.Cruikshank will study the VIMS high-resolution spectral data to determine the distribution of recently observed water ice on Phoebe’s surface. He also will use the data to determine the ability of Phoebe’s surface to reflect light (known as its ‘albedo’) and the source of Phoebe’s mysterious dark color. “This odd moon of Saturn has a little ice and a lot of black material on its surface, but beyond that, we know very little,” Cruikshank noted.Phoebe’s surface color appears almost black when observed by powerful telescopes, scientists say. The moon, which is about 130 miles in diameter, reflects only 6 percent of the sunlight it receives.Because of its dark color, and because Phoebe’s orbit is irregular (elliptical, outside the plane of Saturn’s equator and retrograde), scientists think the moon is probably a captured object, possibly a comet, asteroid or Kuiper Belt Object (KBO).KBOs are lumps of ice, rock and black material in the outer solar system that were never drawn together by gravity to form a planet. They are of great interest to scientists because they are believed to be primordial, which means they probably date back to the formation of the solar system some 4.6 billion years ago. About half of the comets that occasionally come near the Earth and sun are KBOs.One theory of Phoebe’s mysterious dark color, which also is shared by the forward face of Iapatus, another nearby Saturn moon, is that it is due to the abundance of an organic material called tholin. Tholin is a sticky, waxy, dark red residue whose tiny particles cause the brownish haze of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.The tholin that may cover Phoebe is thought by Cruikshank and others to be abiotic, which means it is not made from living organisms. Scientists hypothesize the tholin is a natural by-product of the organic chemistry of the carbonaceous materials that make up Phoebe. Comet dust is an example of abiotic organic material.Since its discovery in 1898, Phoebe has been of interest to astronomers because it is so different from Saturn’s other large moons. If Cassini finds that its surface is really made of carbonaceous organic material, scientists can use that information to learn about our solar system’s formation and earlyhistory. Phoebe’s surface material may even include amino acids, the building blocks of life.On June 11, the Cassini orbiter will fly within about 1,200 miles of Phoebe. Data and images will be returned on June 12.Cruikshank specializes in icy bodies in the outer solar system and the composition of small satellites, including all the satellites of Saturn.The principal investigator of the VIMS team is Dr. Robert H. Brown of the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini’s radar shows Titan’s young active surface CASSINI MISSION RELEASEPosted: October 29, 2004The first radar images of Saturn’s moon Titan show a very complex geological surface that may be relatively young. Previously, Titan’s surface was hidden behind a veil of thick haze.”Unveiling Titan is like reading a mystery novel,” said Dr. Charles Elachi, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and team leader for the radar instrument on Cassini. “Each time you flip the page you learn something new, but you don’t know the whole story until you’ve read the whole book. The story of Titan is unfolding right before our eyes, and what we are seeing is intriguing.” The Oct. 26 flyby marked the first time Cassini’s imaging radar was used to observe Titan. The radar instrument works by bouncing radio signals off Titan’s surface and timing their return. This is similar to timing the returning echo of your voice across a canyon to tell how wide the canyon is. Radio waves can penetrate the thick veil of haze surrounding Titan.Approximately 1 percent of Titan’s surface was mapped during the Oct. 26 flyby. Radar images from Titan’s northern hemisphere, a region that has not yet been imaged optically, show great detail and features down to 300 meters (984 feet) across. A wide variety of geologic terrain types can be seen. There are bright areas that correspond to rougher terrains and darker areas that are thought to be smoother.”In the two days since this flyby, our understanding of Titan has grown tremendously,” said Dr. Jonathan Lunine, Cassini interdisciplinary scientist, University of Arizona, Tucson. “Titan is a dynamic place with complex geologic processes that may be shaping its surface. Its surface may well be covered with organic materials, but we still don’t know how much of the surface is liquid or solid. The fact that we have seen few craters tells us that Titan?s surface is young.”The radar images show a world brimming with features that are dark and white, indicating sharp contrast. One area dubbed “Si-Si” or the “Halloween cat” because it is shaped like a cat’s head is very dark and relatively smooth. That leads scientists to speculate that it might be a lake of some sort, but they caution that it is too soon to know for sure. “With the radar in its active mode, it is like shouting at Titan and listening for the echoes,” said Dr. Ralph Lorenz, Cassini radar team member, University of Arizona, Tucson. “But we can also just listen with the sensitive radar receiver, the radiometry. The radiometry data shows early indications of the composition of the surface materials. One interpretation of what it is telling us is that Titan is a place covered with organics.”The optical imaging cameras on Cassini show streaks on the surface. The streaking may be caused by movement of a material over the surface by wind, flowing hydrocarbon liquids, or a moving ice sheet like a glacier. Imaging scientists are also seeing multiple haze layers in Titan’s atmosphere that extend some 500 kilometers (310 miles) above the surface. At the surface Titan’s atmosphere is about four times denser than Earth’s. With a remarkable flyby and complicated set of spacecraft gymnastics, Cassini will try its luck with Titan again on Dec. 13, 2004. The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe will detach from Cassini on Christmas Eve and descend through Titan’s dense atmosphere on Jan. 14, 2005.”It’s as if we were building a puzzle without the top of the box,” said Lunine. “It will be necessary to piece together the clues provided by Cassini and Huygens over the next few years. Sometimes we’ll be wrong and we’ll need to take the pieces apart and reassemble them again until finally, a complete picture of the nature and evolution of Titan pops into view,” said Lunine. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Cassini posterJust in time for the Cassini spacecraft’s arrival at Saturn, this new poster celebrates the mission to explore the ringed planet and its moons. 2005 CalendarThe 2005 edition of the Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope calendar is available from our U.S. store and will soon be available worldwide. This 12×12-inch calendar features spectacular images from the orbiting observatory.Moon panoramaTaken by Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, this panoramic poster shows lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell as a brilliant Sun glare reflects off the lunar module Antares.Mars Rover mission patchA mission patch featuring NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover is now available from the Astronomy Now Store.Gemini 12Gemini 12: The NASA Mission Reports covers the voyage of James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin that capped the Gemini program’s efforts to prove the technologies and techniques that would be needed for the Apollo Moon landings. Includes CD-ROM.Choose your store: – – – | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Cassini’s rear-view image of Saturn’s moon Titan released CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: July 27, 2004A day after entering orbit around Saturn, Cassini sped silently past Titan, imaging the moon’s south polar region. This natural color image represents Cassini’s view only about two hours after closest approach to the moon. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload a larger version of image The superimposed coordinate system grid in the accompanying image at right illustrates the geographical regions of the moon that are illuminated and visible, as well as the orientation of Titan — lines of longitude converge on the South Pole above the center of the image. The yellow curve marks the position of the boundary between day and night on Titan. Images taken through blue, green and red filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained using the Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera on July 2, 2004, from a distance of about 347,000 kilometers (216,000 miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase angle of 62 degrees. This view is an improvement in resolution of nearly a factor of four over the previously released natural color view of Titan (see PIA06081). The image scale is 21 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Close-up views of Phoebe show moon’s battered past NASA/JPL ANNOUNCEMENTPosted: June 12, 2004First images from the Cassini flyby of Phoebe reveal it to be a scarred, cratered outpost with a very old surface and a mysterious past, and a great deal of variation in surface brightness across its surface. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version “What spectacular images,” said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. “So sharp and clear and showing a great many geological features, large and small. It’s obvious a lot of new insights into the origin of this strange body will come as a result of all this.” “What we are seeing is very neat. Phoebe is a heavily cratered body. We might be seeing one of the chunks from the formation of the solar system, 4.5 billion years ago. It’s too soon to say,” said Dr. Torrence Johnson, Cassini imaging team member at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “It’s important to see the big picture from all of the other instruments to get the global view on this tiny moon.” Dr. Gerhard Neukum, an imaging team member from Freie University in Berlin, said, “It is very interesting and quite clear that a lot of craters smaller than a kilometer are visible. This means, besides the big-ones, lots of projectiles smaller than 100 meters (328 feet) have hit Phoebe.” Whether these projectiles came from outside or within the Saturn system is debatable. There is a suspicion that Phoebe, the largest of Saturn’s outer moons, might be parent to the other, much smaller retrograde outer moons that orbit Saturn. To see a movie of Phoebe’s rotation, click .Dr. Joseph Burns, an imaging team member and professor at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. said, “Looking at those big 50 kilometers (31 mile) craters, one has to wonder whether their impact ejecta might be the other tiny moons that orbit Saturn on paths much like Phoebe’s.” All planned 11 instruments operated as expected and all data was acquired. Scientists plan to use the data to create global maps of the cratered moon, and to determine Phoebe’s composition, mass and density. It will take scientists several days to pour over the data to make more concrete conclusions. Cassini came within approximately 2,068 kilometers (about 1,285 miles) of the dark moon on Friday, June 11. The spacecraft was pointing its instruments at the moon during the flyby. Several hours later it turned to point its antenna to Earth. The signal was received through the Deep Space Network antennas in Madrid, Spain and Goldstone, in California’s Mojave Desert, at 7:52 a.m. PDT today. Cassini was traveling at a relative speed of 20,900 kilometers per hour (13,000 miles per hour) relative to Saturn. It’s been 23 years since a spacecraft last visited Phoebe. The Voyager 2 flyby in 1981 was at a distance from 2.2 million kilometers, (about 1.4 million miles), 1,000 times farther away. With the Phoebe accomplished, Cassini is on course for Saturn. A trajectory correction maneuver is scheduled for June 16. Cassini will conduct a critical 96-minute burn before going into orbit around Saturn on June 30 (July 1 Universal Time). During Cassini’s planned four-year tour it will conduct 76 orbits around the Saturn system and execute 52 close encounters with seven of Saturn’s 31 known moons. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Colorful threads and shadows of Saturn CASSINI NEWS RELEASEPosted: September 16, 2004 Saturn’s faintly banded atmosphere is delicately colored and its threadbare rings cross their own shadows in this marvelous natural color view from Cassini. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version The planet and its rings would nearly fill the space between Earth and the Moon. Yet, despite their great breadth, the rings are a few meters thick and in some places, very translucent. In this image, we can see through the C ring, which is closest to Saturn, and through the Cassini division, the 4,800-kilometer- (2,980-mile-) wide gap that arcs across the top of the image and separates the optically thick B ring from the A ring. The part of the atmosphere seen through the gap appears darker and more bluish due to scattering at blue wavelengths by the cloud-free upper atmosphere. The different colors in Saturn’s atmosphere are due to particles whose composition is yet to be determined. The image was obtained with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera at a distance of 7.6 million kilometers (4.7 million miles) from Saturn. Images taken with red, green and blue filters were combined to create this color view. The image scale is 46 kilometers (28 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras, were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Countdown to Phoebe PHOTO RELEASEPosted: June 11, 2004 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version As Cassini sails toward its rendezvous with Phoebe, details on the small, dark moon are coming into view at a dizzying pace. The images shown here were taken 13 hours apart on Thursday, just one day prior to closest approach. There is a dramatic increase in detail between these two views. Phoebe completes one rotation about its spin axis in nine hours and 16 minutes. We are looking at opposite hemispheres in these two views. A large crater, roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) across, is visible in the image on the left. The image on the right shows a body heavily pitted with craters of varying sizes, including very large ones, and displaying a substantial amount of variation in surface brightness. Features that appear to be cliffs may be the boundaries between large craters. Despite its exaggerated topography, Phoebe is more round than irregular in shape. Left to right, the two views were obtained at a phase, or Sun-Phoebe spacecraft angle, of 87 degrees, and from distances of 956,000 kilometers (594,000 miles) and 658,000 kilometers (409,000 miles), respectively. The image resolutions are 5.7 and 3.9 kilometers (3.5 to 2.4 miles) per pixel, respectively. To aid visibility, the images were magnified three times via linear interpolation; no contrast enhancement was performed. Phoebe is approximately 220 kilometers (137 miles) wide. On Phoebe, the spin axis points up and approximately 13 degrees to the left of the boundary between day and night. Cassini draws closer to its only flyby of this mysterious outer moon of Saturn. Closest approach to Phoebe will be at 4:56 p.m. EDT (2056 GMT) on June 11. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Crunch, squelch or splash on Saturn’s moon Titan? PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY RESEARCH COUNCIL RELEASEPosted: November 6, 2004The prospect of the Huygens probe landing on a hard, soft or liquid surface when it lands on Titan next January still remain following further analysis of data taken during the Cassini mother ship’s closest encounter with Saturn’s largest moon during its fly-by on October 26.Commenting on the latest data results and implications for theHuygens probe Mark Leese of the Open University, Programme Manager forScience Surface Package [SSP] instruments that will unravel the mysteriesof Titan said: “It’s interesting that all of the possible landingscenarios that we envisaged – a hard crunch onto ice, a softer squelchinto solid organics or a splash-down on a liquid hydrocarbon lake – stillseem to exist on Titan.”Leese added, “A first look at the measurements of Titan’s atmosphereduring the fly-by suggest that the “Atmosphere Model” we developed andused to design the Huygens probe is valid and all looks good for theprobe release on Christmas day and descent to the surface on 14thJanuary 2005.”Further analysis of Titan’s upper atmosphere, the thermosphere, hasrevealed a strange brew as Dr Ingo Mueller-Wodarg of Imperial CollegeLondon explained,” Our instrument, the Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer(INMS), made in-situ measurements of atmospheric gases in Titan’s upperatmosphere and found a potent cocktail of nitrogen and methane, stirredup with signatures of hydrogen and other hydrocarbons. We are nowworking on a ‘Weather Report’ for the Huygens landing in January”.Commenting on the surface characteristics of Titan Professor JohnZarnecki of the Open University, lead scientist for the Huygens SSPsaid: “The recent results from the fly-by have started to show us a verydiverse and complicated surface. Titan is geologically active but hasn’tyet given up all of its secrets. Combining the visible images withinfrared and RADAR data from this and future fly-bys should help toclarify the picture – but the arrival of the Huygens probe in Januarywill perhaps be the key to unlock these mysteries.”Professor Carl Murray, of the Imaging Science System [ISS] team fromQueen Mary, University of London also commented on the surfacefeatures: “The images of the Huygens’ landing site returned by the camerasshow a diverse range of features. We see bright and dark areas roughlyaligned in an east-west direction. These are similar to wind streaks seenon Mars and may indicate that material on Titan has been deposited bythe effects of wind blowing across the landscape. All indications suggestthat we are in for a real treat in January when the Huygens probe reachesTitan’s surface and returns the first in situ data from this alien world.”UK scientists and technologists are amongst an international teamcontinuing to analyse the latest data received from the NASA/ESA/ASICassini Huygens mission after the spacecraft made its close fly-by ofTitan last week. The data has provided a wealth of information aboutSaturn’s largest moon, which will not only assist the European SpaceAgency’s Huygens team in advance of the probe landing on Titan inJanuary 2005 but will also increase our understanding of the relationshipbetween Titan and its parent planet Saturn.Professor Michele Dougherty from Imperial College is lead scientist onthe Cassini Magnetometer, which is studying the interaction betweenthe plasma in Saturn’s magnetosphere and the atmosphere and ionosphereof Titan. “We have been able to model the Magnetometer data very wellfrom the Titan flyby. There does not seem to be an internal magnetic fieldat Titan from the observations we obtained during this flyby, but we willhave a much better idea about this when we have a further flyby inDecember which is on a very similar trajectory. All we can say at thispoint is that if there is a magnetic field generated in the interior ofTitan, then it is very small.”Dr Andrew Coates from University College London’s Mullard SpaceScience Laboratory, a Co-Investigator on the Cassini ElectronSpectrometer team, said: “We received some remarkable new informationabout Titan’s plasma environment within the context of Saturn’sfascinating magnetosphere. Unexpectedly, it looks like we can directly usefeatures of the electron results to understand what Titan’s upperatmosphere is made of, supplementing the ion measurements from companionsensors on other instruments. Our electron results contain tell-talefingerprints of photoelectrons and Auger electrons which we will use forthis. Also, the total picture shows how important electrons, raining downon Titan’s upper atmosphere, are in helping the feeble sunlight drive thecomplex chemistry in Titan’s upper atmosphere.”Nick Shave, Space Business Manager at UK IT company LogicaCMG said “Theamazing imagery and radar results recently received from Cassini ofTitan’s surface is providing important early information and creatingreal excitement in the industrial community. UK industry’s criticalcontributions to Cassini-Huygens via the LogicaCMG Huygens flightsoftware and other systems, such as the parachutes by Martin Baker, willenable even more spectacular science that could help unlock some of thesecrets of life on Earth.”UK scientists are playing significant roles in the Cassini Huygensmission with involvement in 6 of the 12 instruments onboard the Cassiniorbiter and 2 of the 6 instruments on the Huygens probe. The UK has thelead role in the magnetometer instrument on Cassini (Imperial College)and the Surface Science Package on Huygens (Open University).UK industry had developed many of the key systems for the Huygensprobe, including the flight software (LogicaCMG) and parachutes (MartinBaker). These mission critical systems need to perform reliably in someof the most challenging and remote environments ever attempted by a manmade object.Titan BackgroundTitan is a highly complex world and is closer to a terrestrial planetthan a moon typical of the outer planetary systems. Titan was first seenby Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens (after which the ESA probe isnamed) in 1655.Not only is Titan the largest of Saturn’s satellites, it is alsolarger than the planets Mercury and Pluto, and is the second largestsatellite in the solar system (Jupiter’s Ganymede being larger). It isthe only satellite in the solar system with appreciable atmosphere,composed mostly of Nitrogen, but also contains aerosols and hydrocarbons,including methane and ethane. Titan’s atmosphere was first confirmed in1944 when Gerard Kuiper confirmed the presence of gaseous methane withspectroscopy.Titan’s peak surface temperature is about 95 K (-178 degrees C) andsurface pressure is 1.6 Earth atmospheres. At this temperature andpressure, many simple chemicals that are present in abundance (methane,ethane, water, ammonia) provide materials in solid, liquid and gaseousform which may interact to create exotic features on the surface.Precipitation, flowing liquids, lakes and eruptions are all possible.Titan orbits Saturn at a distance of just over 20 Saturn radii(1,222,000 km/759,000 miles) which is far enough to carry the moon inand out of Saturn’s magnetosphere. Very little is known about Titan’sinterior structure, including whether it has its own magnetic field.Titan’s surface has been difficult to study, as it is veiled by adense hydrocarbon haze that forms in the dense stratosphere as methaneis destroyed by sunlight. From the data collected so far, dark featurescan be seen crossing the equatorial region of Titan, with a large brightregion near longitude 90 degrees now named Xanadu, and possibly a largecrater in the northern hemisphere.The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, theEuropean Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet PropulsionLaboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology inPasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Science MissionDirectorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboardcameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL.The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is theUK’s strategic science investment agency. It funds research,education and public understanding in four broad areas of science -particle physics, astronomy, cosmology and space science.PPARC is government funded and provides research grants andstudentships to scientists in British universities, gives researchersaccess to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership ofinternational bodies such as the European Organisation for NuclearResearch, CERN, the European Space Agency and the European SouthernObservatory. It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas onLa Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, the UK Astronomy TechnologyCentre at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh and the MERLIN/VLBI NationalFacility.Cassini posterJust in time for the Cassini spacecraft’s arrival at Saturn, this new poster celebrates the mission to explore the ringed planet and its moons. 2005 CalendarThe 2005 edition of the Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope calendar is available from our U.S. store and will soon be available worldwide. This 12×12-inch calendar features spectacular images from the orbiting observatory.Moon panoramaTaken by Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, this panoramic poster shows lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell as a brilliant Sun glare reflects off the lunar module Antares.Mars Rover mission patchA mission patch featuring NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover is now available from the Astronomy Now Store.An insider’s view of how Apollo flight controllers operated and just what they faced when events were crucial. Choose your store: | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Encountering Iapetus CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: January 9, 2004On New Year’s Eve 2004, Cassini flew past Saturn’s intriguing moon Iapetus, capturing the four visible light images that were put together to form this global view. The scene is dominated by a dark, heavily-cratered region, called Cassini Regio, that covers nearly an entire hemisphere of Iapetus. Iapetus is 1,436 kilometers (892 miles) across. The view is centered on the moon’s equator and on roughly 90 degrees west longitude — a location that always faces the direction of Iapetus’s orbital motion around Saturn. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteDownload larger image version Within Cassini Regio, and especially near the equator, dark deposits with a visual reflectivity of only about 4 percent coat nearly everything with remarkable uniformity. However, at latitudes of about 40 degrees, the surface transitions to a much brighter, icy terrain near the pole where the brightest icy materials have reflectivity over 60 percent. However, this region is not uniform: Close inspection reveals that the surface is stained by crudely north-south trending wispy streaks of darker material, typically a few kilometers wide and sometimes tens of kilometers long. An ancient, 400-kilometer wide (250 miles) impact basin appears just above the center of the disc. The basin is heavily overprinted by more recent, smaller impact craters. The basin rim is delineated by steep scarps that descend to the basin floor. Many of these scarps, as well as walls of nearby craters, appear bright, probably due to exposed outcrops of relatively clean ice. Particularly at mid-latitudes, the brightest scarp exposures appear to face away from the equator (i.e. toward the pole). Often, the opposite south-facing scarps are stained with the lower-brightness material. The most unique, and perhaps most remarkable feature discovered on Iapetus in Cassini images is a topographic ridge that coincides almost exactly with the geographic equator. The ridge is conspicuous in the picture as an approximately 20-kilometer wide (12 miles) band that extends from the western (left) side of the disc almost to the day/night boundary on the right. On the left horizon, the peak of the ridge reaches at least 13 kilometers (8 miles) above the surrounding terrain. Along the roughly 1,300 kilometer (800 mile) length over which it can be traced in this picture, it remains almost exactly parallel to the equator within a couple of degrees. The physical origin of the ridge has yet to be explained. It is not yet clear whether the ridge is a mountain belt that has folded upward, or an extensional crack in the surface through which material from inside Iapetus erupted onto the surface and accumulated locally, forming the ridge. The origin of Cassini Regio is a long-standing debate among scientists. One theory proposes that its dark material may have erupted onto Iapetus’s icy surface from the interior. Another theory holds that the dark material represented accumulated debris ejected by impact events on dark, outer satellites of Saturn. Details of this Cassini image mosaic do not definitively rule out either of the theories. However, they do provide important new insights and constraints. The uniform appearance of the dark materials at the equator, the apparent thinning and spottiness of the dark materials at progressively higher latitudes and dark wispy streaks near the distal margin of Cassini Regio strongly suggest that dark material was emplaced as a coating. One of the important new results is that no clear evidence can be found that erupted fluids have resurfaced Cassini Regio. The high density of impact craters argues that the terrain underlying the dark coating is relatively ancient and has not been eradicated by its emplacement. Thus, Cassini Regio may have had its origin in plume-style eruptions in which dark particulate materials accumulated on the surface as fallout, perhaps in conjunction with the creation of the equatorial ridge. On the other hand, the dark deposits in Cassini Regio may be a surface coating consistent with, and perhaps more simply explained by, the fall of dark materials from outside. The view has been oriented so that the north pole is toward the top of the picture. Cassini acquired the images in this mosaic with its narrow angle camera on Dec. 31, 2004, at a distance of about 172,400 kilometers (107,124 miles) from Iapetus and at a Sun-Iapetus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 50 degrees. The image scale is 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast enhanced to aid visibility of surface features. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.Eyes on Xanadu CASSINI PHOTO RELEASEPosted: October 25, 2004This image taken on Oct. 24, 2004, reveals Titan’s bright “continent-sized” terrain known as Xanadu. It was acquired with the narrow angle camera on Cassini’s imaging science subsystem through a spectral filter centered at 938 nanometers, a wavelength region at which Titan’s surface can be most easily detected. The surface is seen at a higher contrast than in previously released imaging science subsystem images due to a lower phase angle (Sun-Titan-Cassini angle), which minimizes scattering by the haze. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteThe image shows details about 10 times smaller than those seen from Earth. Surface materials with different brightness properties (or albedos) rather than topographic shading are highlighted. The image has been calibrated and slightly enhanced for contrast. It will be further processed to reduce atmospheric blurring and to optimize mapping of surface features. The origin and geography of Xanadu remain mysteries at this range. Bright features near the south pole (bottom) are clouds. On Oct. 26, Cassini will acquire images of features in the central-left portion of this image from a position about 100 times closer. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. Ares 1-X PatchThe official embroidered patch for the Ares 1-X rocket test flight, is available for purchase.Apollo CollageThis beautiful one piece set features the Apollo program emblem surrounded by the individual mission logos.Expedition 21The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 21 crew is now available from our stores.Hubble PatchThe official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle’s last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase. | | | | 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.First Huygens images show strange new world BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
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