As it turns out, lift-off takes a lot longer than it looks on TV. The Cassini-Huygens mission, recently renamed Cassini Solstice Mission, has roots going all the way back to the early 1980s, when American and European agencies first recommended teaming up to send a probe to Saturn. In a lot of ways, it was a precursor of the International Space Station—proof that countries could overcome their differences and work together to further space exploration. It’s the sort of thing that would have brought a tear to Gene Roddenberry’s eye.

But publicly funded projects—particularly ones to the tune of $3.27 billion—cannot survive on space-kumbayas alone. To produce results worthy of the investment, Cassini was outfitted with sensors that allow it to collect information on everything from the space dust that hits it, to the infrared waves emanating off Saturn.

Those high-tech tools could actually collect more data than Cassini can send home, said Curt Niebur, NASA program scientist on the Cassini mission. That’s because all the information–photos, sound and recorded data of all sorts–has to squeeze back to Earth through a very limited radio connection.

“The analogy today is a wifi signal. The further you get, the less data you can exchange,” he said. “That’s our biggest challenge. Most people don’t realize that the spacecraft isn’t taking data every second of every day, mostly because we just don’t have the pipeline to send it.”

But the information that does make it here is fascinating stuff. For instance, scientists had long known Titan, one of Saturn’s many moons, was unusual, but, thanks to Cassini, we now know that it’s more like Earth than anyone ever suspected. Despite an average temperature of -200°C, Titan has lakes, rivers and storms—they’re just made of liquid methane, instead of water. There’s also an extreme sort of weather cycle that evaporates lakes and moves them from the North Pole to the South along with changing seasons.

And Titan has another little secret that Cassini clued researchers in on–deep beneath the moon’s surface, it’s warm enough to harbor liquid water and create the kind of conditions enjoyed by bacteria. That’s an important discovery, because it means we can start looking for life on planets we’d previously ruled out.

“We thought we’d have to look for a warm planet like Earth, but we’re finding that in these cold, dark places there are processes occurring to generate heat under the ice, and life could quite possibly arise,” Niebur said. “It’s important because there are lots of gas giants out there in space. And they have lots of moons. And that increases the chances of us finding life dramatically, because those icy moons could be places where life exists after all.”

Cassini is also doing research that could help make our own planet more hospitable. Don Gurnett, a professor at the University of Iowa who studies experimental space plasma physics, is using Cassini to collect information on electromagnetic waves in space, some of which produce fascinating sounds. For instance, particles in the radiation belt around Saturn spontaneously emit plasma waves–electromagnetic signals that move through the ionized gases that surround a planet. When that happens, it creates what Gurnett calls a “dawn chorus”, similar to the sound of singing birds.

But these spontaneous plasma waves aren’t just pretty. They also alter the movement of radiation belt particles, causing some to hit the atmosphere and weakening the belt’s intensity. The data being collected by Cassini could help us better understand how this process works and why the plasma waves happen to begin with. And that, Gurnett says, could have serious implications in the world of alternative energy.

That’s because fusion–a safer type of nuclear power–draws on the same principles. Radiation belt particles are held in their “belt” by the planet’s magnetic field. Likewise, a nuclear fusion reactor attempts to hold superhot gases in place with a magnetic field. But, as in space, spontaneous plasma waves send the gas particles careening off out of the field. When that happens in a fusion reactor, it cools the gases, and keeps them from staying hot enough to efficiently produce energy. If we understand the spontaneous plasma waves, we might be able to finally make a fusion reactor that works as a reliable energy source, Gurnett said.

See more images from the Cassini mission at NASA’a Cassini multimedia page. Reflection of Sunlight off Titan Lake. Bursting at the Seams. Two-faced Janus. A tectonic feast. In Saturn’s shadow.