The “Cassini–Huygens” space-research mission, commonly called “Cassini”, involved a collaboration between the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites.

“Cassini” was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1997 and took seven years to reach Saturn, travelling two billion miles. On the way it made fly-bys of Venus, the Earth, and Jupiter to receive gravitational "kicks" that boosted its speed to more than 42,500mph. “Cassini” arrived at the ringed planet in July 2004 where it stayed for 13 years until September 2017.

During the mission at least 60 "kittens" were discovered orbiting in Saturn's F ring. Cassini scientists named them after kittens, mostly just for fun. Saturn's kittens are a group of small clumps and baby moons, or moonlets, that occupy the planet's outer F ring. Like the rest of Saturn's rings, this thin outer ring is made up of countless particles that range in size. When enough of those particles bump into one another and stick together, they aggregate into larger clumps — and become eligible for a kitten name.

So far, the list of Saturn's kitten names includes “Fluffy”, “Garfield”, “Sylvester”, “Socks” and “Whiskers”. These are unofficial nicknames for more-complicated (and less memorable) official titles like "Alpha Leonis Rev 9" (known as “Mittens”).

More Info: www.space.com