Saturn's Rings on the Arrival of Cassini

In this talk we will review the basic properties of Saturn's rings, and the main processes which act upon them, to place Cassini's first ring science results in context. Issues touching on the origin and evolution of Saturn's rings will also be discussed.Voyager, groundbased, and HST contributions will be described, recent theoretical developments will be discussed, and key outstanding problems will be noted. The properties of the Cassini tour relevant to ring observations will be reviewed. Specifically, the geometry of the Saturn Orbit Insertion maneuver, the geometry of the first ring-intensive periapse pass (Rev A, October 2004), and notable elements of the geometry of the rest of the tour will be highlighted as "coming attractions".