The Cassini spacecraft launched in October 1997 and has been orbiting Saturn since 2004.  We are celebrating Cassini’s 10-year anniversary orbiting Saturn with a special edition of the essay contest.

 The 2014 Cassini Scientist for a Day Essay Contest is open to students in grades 5-12.  Essays must be under 500 words.

There are three essay topics to choose from:

Target 1.  Saturn’s F ring

Target 2.  Saturn’s moon, Titan

Target 3.  Saturn (specifically the north polar region of Saturn)

 Students choose one of these topics and write an essay about why they think this image should be taken by the Cassini spacecraft.  What questions do they hope will be answered by taking this picture?

 The essay contest meets U.S. National Science and Language Arts Standards.

 For contest rules, videos about each essay topic, a downloadable contest flyer, frequently asked questions, and more information, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/1k1sDGj

The contest deadline is Thursday, April 17, 2014.  All essays must be submitted by the student’s teacher (or parent, if home schooled).  If the essay contest is used as a class assignment, please send the top 3 essays from each class, along with a list of other students who wrote essays for the contest.

 All students who write essays will receive a certificate of participation.  U.S. winners and their classes will be invited to participate in a teleconference with Cassini scientists.  U.S. and international winning essays will be posted on the Cassini website.

  For questions about the contest, e-mail scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.gov