14 January 2005
ESA PR 03-2005. Today, after its seven-year journey through the Solar
System on board the Cassini spacecraft, ESA’s Huygens probe has
successfully descended through the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s
largest moon, and safely landed on its surface.
The first scientific data arrived at the European Space Operations
Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, this afternoon at 17:19 CET.
Huygens is mankind’s first successful attempt to land a probe on
another world in the outer Solar System. “This is a great achievement
for Europe and its US partners in this ambitious international
endeavour to explore the Saturnian system,” said Jean-Jacques
Dordain, ESA’s Director General.
Following its release from the Cassini mothership on 25 December,
Huygens reached Titan’s outer atmosphere after 20 days and a 4
million km cruise. The probe started its descent through Titan’s hazy
cloud layers from an altitude of about 1270 km at 11:13 CET. During
the following three minutes Huygens had to decelerate from 18 000 to
1400 km per hour.
A sequence of parachutes then slowed it down to less than 300 km per
hour. At a height of about 160 km the probe’s scientific instruments
were exposed to Titan’s atmosphere. At about 120 km, the main
parachute was replaced by a smaller one to complete the descent, with
an expected touchdown at 13:34 CET. Preliminary data indicate that
the probe landed safely, likely on a solid surface.
The probe began transmitting data to Cassini four minutes into its
descent and continued to transmit data after landing at least as long
as Cassini was above Titan’s horizon. The certainty that Huygens was
alive came already at 11:25 CET today, when the Green Bank radio
telescope in West Virginia, USA, picked up a faint but unmistakable
radio signal from the probe. Radio telescopes on Earth continued to
receive this signal well past the expected lifetime of Huygens.
Huygens data, relayed by Cassini, were picked up by NASA’s Deep Space
Network and delivered immediately to ESA’s European Space Operation
Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, where the scientific analysis is
currently taking place.
“Titan was always the target in the Saturn system where the need for
‘ground truth’ from a probe was critical. It is a fascinating world
and we are now eagerly awaiting the scientific results,” says
Professor David Southwood, Director of ESA’s scientific programmme.
“The Huygens scientists are all delighted. This was worth the long
wait,” says Dr Jean-Pierre Lebreton, ESA Huygens Mission Manager.
Huygens is expected to provide the first direct and detailed sampling
of Titan’s atmospheric chemistry and the first photographs of its
hidden surface, and will supply a detailed ‘weather report’.
One of the main reasons for sending Huygens to Titan is that its
nitrogen atmosphere, rich in methane, and its surface may contain
many chemicals of the kind that existed on the young Earth. Combined
with the Cassini observations, Huygens will afford an unprecedented
view of Saturn’s mysterious moon.
“Descending through Titan was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and
today’s achievement proves that our partnership with ESA was an
excellent one,” says Alphonso Diaz, NASA Associate Administrator of
Science.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperation between NASA, the
European Space Agency and ASI, the Italian space agency. The Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute
of Technology in Pasadena, is managing the mission for NASA’s Office
of Space Science, Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled
the Cassini orbiter.
“The teamwork in Europe and the USA, between scientists, industry and
agencies has been extraordinary and has set the foundation for
today’s enormous success,” concludes Jean-Jacques Dordain.
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