Huygens lands on Titan
Posted: Fri, Jan 14, 2005, 1:54 PM ET (1854 GMT)
ESA's Huygens spacecraft has successfully landed on the surface of Titan, project officials said Friday. The probe, which detached from the Cassini spacecraft December 25, entered Titan's upper atmosphere 5:13 am EST (1013 GMT), landing on the surface at about 7:34 am EST (1234 GMT), based on a planned timeline for the mission. Engineers believe the spacecraft successfully descended through the atmosphere and landed on a solid surface because the probe's carrier wave, the spacecraft's only direct transmission to Earth during the encounter, was detected by radio telescopes on Earth during the planned descent and well after landing. Scientific data collected by Huygens was transmitted to the Cassini orbiter as is flew by Titan; it will relay the data to Earth later today. Some initial results may be released later Friday, although a more comprehensive release of data is not expected until Saturday.
ESA's Huygens spacecraft has successfully landed on the surface of Titan, project officials said Friday. The probe, which detached from the Cassini spacecraft December 25, entered Titan's upper atmosphere 5:13 am EST (1013 GMT), landing on the surface at about 7:34 am EST (1234 GMT), based on a planned timeline for the mission. Engineers believe the spacecraft successfully descended through the atmosphere and landed on a solid surface because the probe's carrier wave, the spacecraft's only direct transmission to Earth during the encounter, was detected by radio telescopes on Earth during the planned descent and well after landing. Scientific data collected by Huygens was transmitted to the Cassini orbiter as is flew by Titan; it will relay the data to Earth later today. Some initial results may be released later Friday, although a more comprehensive release of data is not expected until Saturday.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, January 23
ESA to Study Falcon 9 Breakup Over Poland
European Spaceflight — 6:05 am ET (1105 GMT) The hidden microbial communities that shape health in space
University College Dublin — 6:04 am ET (1104 GMT) Scientists devise way to track space junk as it falls to Earth
Johns Hopkins University — 6:03 am ET (1103 GMT) Tracking uncontrolled space debris reentry using sonic booms
Eurekalert — 6:03 am ET (1103 GMT) Rethinking where life could exist beyond earth
Eurekalert — 6:03 am ET (1103 GMT) |
