European Craft Makes Safe, Soft Landing on Saturn Moon Titan

[Braindead]

DARMSTADT, Germany, Jan. 14 - A European spacecraft landed safely today on the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, scientists here said, and began transmitting data back to Earth.

Mission controllers said they were confident the Huygens craft made a soft landing by parachute because it was still transmitting signals long after its scheduled touchdown at about 1:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. Eastern time).

"We know it has landed based on the laws of gravity," the European Space Agency's science director, David Southwood, said.

"It simply cannot still be flying. It's got to be on a solid surface, and it must be soft."

It is the first landing of a spacecraft on the moon of another planet. And Titan is no ordinary moon, but a body larger than the planets Mercury and Pluto, and almost the size of Mars.

The first data from Huygens came before noon Eastern time, and pictures are expected later.

Even on Titan's surface, the craft's batteries will be running low - time enough for no more than 30 minutes to 2 hours of observations and picture-taking.

On Thursday Dr. Jean-Pierre Lebreton, the mission manager at the European Space Operations Center here, said, "I'm quite confident we will have something special."

At a news briefing Thursday, Dr. Martin G. Tomasko of the University of Arizona, a Huygens scientist, said the craft's camera and science instruments were expected to provide "a spectacularly new view of Titan and an understanding of this mysterious world."

Scientists were hoping to get their first peek inside one of the most intriguing atmospheres in the solar system.

Its dense hydrocarbon smog suggests complex chemical processes like those that led to life on Earth. Dr. Tomasko said previous observations indicated that the atmosphere would appear green at higher altitudes and then turn orange closer to the surface.

This atmosphere has also been frustrating. The perpetual smoggy veil has limited any view of Titan's surface to little more than a vague patchwork of light and dark regions, with only some hints of rugged topography.

The mission by the 700-pound Huygens, built and operated by the European Space Agency, is part of a $3.2 billion undertaking by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, ESA and the Italian Space Agency.

Huygens (named for the 17th-century Dutch astronomer) rode piggyback on NASA's six-ton Cassini spacecraft for the seven-year journey to the wide-ranging orbit of Saturn. On the night of Dec. 24-25, Cassini released its fellow traveler for its solo cruise on course for Titan and is now in a position to relay all the data sent from Huygens during the descent and landing.

The possibility remains that a design flaw in Cassini's radio receiver system will hopelessly scramble the data. Engineers anticipated that signals from the wind-tossed Huygens would vary widely in frequency and strength, and thus compensated for it in the receiver's design. But they had failed to take into account frequency shifts that would also throw off the timing of the encoded data, leaving it a garbled mess.

In early 2000, an ESA engineer recognized the problem. Finally, ESA and NASA engineers found a way to reduce the frequency shifts to acceptable levels by altering the trajectory and orientation of Cassini during the critical maneuvers.

(New York Times)


First pics in few hours...

http://www.esa.int/images/huygens005_L,2.jpg


More infos here : The European Space Agency (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMQOI71Y3E_0.html)

[Bluezoo]

woot

[CG51]

Even on Titan's surface, the craft's batteries will be running low - time enough for no more than 30 minutes to 2 hours of observations and picture-taking.

wtf....7 years and 3.2 billon dollars for 2 hours of photographs...

anywho...hope to see the pics...

[dava]

Nah, this Huygens-spacecraft isnt the essential part of this mission.
Its a nice surplus.
The main part of the mission is the cassini-spacecraft who will orbit Titan some more.

[ElHombre]

the pictures are coming in. woot

[szr]

Hope it was snapping pics the whole way down! Should be pretty cool

[vryhpyammoadded]

Fanfreekinfastic congrats great news woot

[DarkCypher]

http://www.esa.int/images/huygens005_L,2.jpg

Thats not a real picture is it??

[ElHombre]

http://www.esa.int/images/huygens005_L,2.jpg

Thats not a real picture is it??

no. there's no other camera on titan to take such a picture. all the latest images are strictly back-and-white.

[SHAM]

http://www.esa.int/images/huygens005_L,2.jpg

Thats not a real picture is it??


Yeah that was taken by "one" of the local journalists and flashed around the world before the actual pics arrived back from the probe..nice one :cantbeli:

[Ratamacue]

Even on Titan's surface, the craft's batteries will be running low - time enough for no more than 30 minutes to 2 hours of observations and picture-taking.
wtf....7 years and 3.2 billon dollars for 2 hours of photographs...

anywho...hope to see the pics...
There's more to the mission than taking photographs. The kind of information about Titan's atmosphere, composition, etc. they'll gather from Cassini and Hguyen would be nearly impossible to collect from Earth. The pictures are just for show and to see what the surface really looks like.

[Braindead]

Even on Titan's surface, the craft's batteries will be running low - time enough for no more than 30 minutes to 2 hours of observations and picture-taking.
wtf....7 years and 3.2 billon dollars for 2 hours of photographs...

anywho...hope to see the pics...
There's more to the mission than taking photographs. The kind of information about Titan's atmosphere, composition, etc. they'll gather from Cassini and Hguyen would be nearly impossible to collect from Earth. The pictures are just for show and to see what the surface really looks like.

Absolutely. Essential of the infos is chemical analysis of gaz during landing. Only scientists can understand it... Titan appears like a very young earth ( 4 billions years ago).

[Musashi]

http://ww2.tvp.pl/tvppl/images/2005/01/14/176131/img500.jpg
http://ww2.tvp.pl/tvppl/images/2005/01/14/176154/img500.jpg
http://ww2.tvp.pl/tvppl/images/2005/01/14/176157/img500.jpg

[Midav]

Darmstadt! My hometown in Germany :D

[DarkCypher]

Yeah that was taken by "one" of the local journalists and flashed around the world before the actual pics arrived back from the probe..nice one :cantbeli:


First pics in few hours...

That’s a misleading comment in the first post then. What’s up with the crappy quality?? I know there will be over 200,000 pictures but damn... they better not be all like that. That would be a waste of 3.2 billion.

[thecheeto]

That probe isnt 3.2 billion all by itself. The Cassini mission in total cost that much. The probes is as someone said earlier a nice lil bonus. The main space craft is about the size of a small buss if i remember correctly.

[CG51]

http://www.esa.int/images/huygens005_L,2.jpg

this is by far the best pic yet... rofl :P

[Dima-RussianArms]

I think it is agreat achievent for the makind as a whole - we are moving forward.
If not for people like those who made it possible we'd still be thinking that Earth is flat and rests on the backs of three whales.

Congratulations to whoever is responsible/participating in the project.

[KDF]

There's a mirror of all the raw 'triplet' thumbnails that were transmitted by Huygens at :

http://mars.lyle.org/titan/raw/

each triplet is an image taken horizontally (top), an image taken looking down 45 degrees (middle) and one looking directly beneath the probe (bottom)

[Braindead]

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/Picture7.png

This image was returned yesterday, 14 January 2005, by ESA's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. This is the coloured view, following processing to add reflection spectra data, gives a better indication of the actual colour of the surface. Initially thought to be rocks or ice blocks, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimetres (left) and 4 centimetres (centre) across respectively, at a distance of about 85 centimetres from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected, consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible fluvial activity.

[platform389]

http://www.esa.int/images/huygens005_L,2.jpg

this is by far the best pic yet... rofl :P

Indeed... rofl

On the Edge Of Forever, never to return home. woot

[KDF]

Some enthusiasts have taken the raw image data and started making mosaics and panorama images etc have a look here:

http://anthony.liekens.net/index.php/Main/Huygens

[Marmot1]

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/Picture2.jpg

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/Picture3.jpg

[seruriermarshal]

LOCKHEED MARTIN-BUILT HUYGENS INSTRUMENT TAKES TITANIC SNAPSHOTS OF SATURN MOON

DENVER, Colo., January 15, 2005 -- After over seven years in space, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Huygens probe has descended through the atmosphere of Titan, the largest of Saturn’s multitude of moons. Pictures of Titan’s exotic environment were provided by the Descent Imager/ Spectral Radiometer (DISR), a complex instrument designed and built by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] for the University of Arizona and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, with the Huygens probe in tow, was inserted into orbit around Saturn on June 30, 2004, initiating four years of orbital science investigations of the giant ringed planet and its many mysterious moons.


“We couldn’t be more pleased for our colleagues at the University of Arizona, NASA and ESA as Huygens has allowed us unprecedented access to one of the most mysterious moons in the solar system,” said James Crocker, vice president, Civil Space, at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. “The superb performance of the DISR hardware and the many years of hard work by the DISR team are equally gratifying, and we’re proud to play a role in this exciting international voyage of exploration.”

As Huygens descended by parachute through Titan’s thick atmosphere, DISR made a range of imaging and spectral observations using several sensors and fields of view. The radiation balance of the atmosphere was measured by monitoring the upward and downward flow of radiation. A calculation of the size, number and density of suspended particles in the atmosphere was made possible by measuring the light intensity around the Sun. Two imagers (one visible, one infrared) observed the surface during the latter stages of the descent, and built up a mosaic of pictures around the touch down site. A side-view visible imager captured a horizontal view of the horizon and the underside of the cloud deck. The spectral measurements of the surface were enabled by a lamp that switched on shortly before touch down to augment the weak sunlight.

The study of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is one of the major goals of the Cassini/Huygens mission. Although it is believed to be too cold to support life, haze-covered Titan may preserve, in deep-freeze, many of the same chemical compounds that preceded life on Earth. The Huygens descent and touch down is the most distant descent by a robotic probe ever attempted on another object in the solar system. Over the course of the orbital mission, Cassini will have executed 45 flybys of Titan, coming as close as approximately 590 miles (950 km) above the surface. This will permit high-resolution mapping of the moon's surface with an imaging radar instrument, which can see through the opaque haze of Titan's upper atmosphere.

The second largest planet in our solar system, after Jupiter, Saturn serves as a natural laboratory to better understand the formation of our Solar System five billion years ago, as the planet and its rings are a close analog to the disc of gas and dust surrounding the nascent Sun that formed the planets. Detailed knowledge of the dynamics of interactions among Saturn's elaborate rings and numerous moons will provide valuable data for understanding how each of the solar system's planets evolved.

The Cassini spacecraft was launched on a Lockheed Martin-built Air Force Titan IV/Centaur rocket Oct. 15, 1997. The Cassini propulsion module – also built by Lockheed Martin – is the largest U.S. planetary spacecraft propulsion system ever built, and was fired 17 times en route to Saturn, and will be ignited approximately 150 more times before the end of the mission. In addition to DISR, the Titan IV/Centaur and the propulsion system, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company designed and built the three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) that power spacecraft systems.

JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. ESA managed the development of Huygens and is in charge of operations of the probe from its control center in Darmstadt, Germany. The Italian Space Agency provided the high-gain antenna, much of the radio system and elements of several of Cassini's science instruments. JPL manages the overall program for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company is one of the major operating units of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Space Systems designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates a variety of advanced technology systems for military, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include a full-range of space launch systems, including heavy-lift capability, ground systems, remote sensing and communications satellites for commercial and government customers, advanced space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems.



Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2003 sales of $31.8 billion.

From (http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=16238&rsbci=0&fti=111&ti=0&sc=400)

[Ballistic]

Fantastic stuff !! woot

This is what can happen when people work together. ESA and NASA have achieved a remarkable milestone in solar system travel and scientific data collection. The Huygens probe was orignally supposed to take more than 700 images of the surface but one of it's systems was not transmitting data so the amount was halved. 350 images is still worth it, but it was'nt just about the pictures. The data from the Cassini craft orbitting above Titan and around the Saturn system is definately worth the price tag.

As Dima said, we are moving forward and it's only possible because of people who think big. Once again, congrats to ESA and NASA on a superbly successful joint mission !! :D

[Hiroshima]

Kinda sucks about the 2 hour thing...darn fine images though! Huzza for the space programs!

[Raistlin]

Wow, that jpeg compression is the worst I've ever seen. Does anyone know if they came from the probe compressed like that or is it the work of web admins?

[bloddyaxe]

Huygens is very nice indeed.

[MARINO]

CH4 oceans yuk!!!

[Zoomie]

Here's some awesome Pics from Cassini:
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/104326main_pia06164-516.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/103923main_pia06155-516.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/61515main_pia06077-516-385.jpg

The Rings in Stunning Detail
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/105652main_pia06563_detail.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/105126main_pia06556_detail.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/104820main_pia06554_detail.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/104659main_pia06552_detail.jpg

This is the atmosphere on Titan:
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/103926main_pia06160-516.jpg

[MARINO]

I want more pics from Titan

[CG51]

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/104326main_pia06164-516.jpg
thats just wicked looking... woot

[Raistlin]

Don't forget to check Nasa's Astronomy Picture of the Day (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050114.html) and the links that are there. No wonder that site gets more than a million hits every day.

[CG51]

Fantastic stuff !! woot

This is what can happen when people work together. ESA and NASA have achieved a remarkable milestone in solar system travel and scientific data collection. The Huygens probe was orignally supposed to take more than 700 images of the surface but one of it's systems was not transmitting data so the amount was halved. 350 images is still worth it, but it was'nt just about the pictures. The data from the Cassini craft orbitting above Titan and around the Saturn system is definately worth the price tag.

As Dima said, we are moving forward and it's only possible because of people who think big. Once again, congrats to ESA and NASA on a superbly successful joint mission !! :D

i agree...EU and USA should work together more often...can only benefit both and reduce the cost...
that almost looks like water at the bottom...
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/Picture2.jpg

[Zoomie]

Bah! The stupid ESA is holding all of the Huygens probe photos till they feel like releasing them.

Note: Looking for ESA's Huygens Probe images? THEY ARE NOT HERE! The European Space Agency is handling images taken by the Huygens probe and they will not be available in this gallery.