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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Huygens Preparing to Reveal Titan's secrets

Next month, we will all join in in great aniticipation when Huygens will detach and plunge into the Titanian astmosphere.

From Astrobiology Magazine:

At 1.25 billion kilometers (750 million miles) from Earth, after a 7-year journey through the Solar system, the Huygens probe is about to separate from the Cassini orbiter to enter a ballistic trajectory toward Titan, the largest and most mysterious moon of Saturn, in order to dive into its atmosphere on 14 January.

This will be the first man-made object to explore in-situ this unique environment, whose chemistry is assumed to be very similar to that of the early Earth just before life began, 3.8 billion years ago.

More on this here: www.astrobio.net/news/article1335.html

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Let's hope that Hygens was built tough and thought out, considering it was built by the hands of NASA.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Go...Huygens...Go!!!

As I type this, the little spacecraft that could is hopefully entering mighty Titan's atmosphere, floating for two hours until it impacts the surface.

The time line for this insertion Courtesy of Universe Today: www.universetoday.com/am/publish/huygens_timeline.html?1312005

Isn't this a great time to be alive in exploring space and our planets? Mars now with two Rovers on the surface, Comet Temple 1 is going to get smacked, Cassini revealing Saturn's rings and now mysterious Titan will shed some of it's secrets...courtesy of Huygens.

Now, I don't know what the abbreviations mean, but I sound smart when I refer to them.

Thanks Christian!

Too cool!

[Al Degutis]

Word is that it "landed". Hope it wasn't a rough landing like the capsule from the Genesis spacecraft back in Sept 2004.

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.

Full story from the European Space Agency: www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMQ1QQ3K3E_0.html

Now all we can do is sit back and wait for the images and data to be analyzed and made public.

[Centaur]

Images can be seen on the European Space Agency's Cassini-Huygens website. Click:

www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/index.html

At first glance one appears to be taken above Earth showing river valleys and a lake shoreline. Another looks like a Martian rock strewn landscape.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

INCREDIBLE!! Hail Huygens!!

Wow...just wow!

This is one of the first raw images returned by the ESA Huygens probe during its successful descent. It was taken from an altitude of 16.2 kilometres with a resolution of approximately 40 metres per pixel. It apparently shows short, stubby drainage channels leading to a shoreline.

This is one of the first raw images returned by the ESA Huygens probe during its successful descent.It was taken at an altitude of 8 kilometres with a resolution of 20 metres per pixel. It shows what could be the landing site, with shorelines and boundaries between raised ground and flooded plains.

It shows shorelines, but what is lapping up on those shores? What's flooding...water? And if it is..being so far out, why isn't all the liquid frozen on Titan?

Amazing that the lighting is so pronounced and detail so good. What a great mission Cassini-Huygens is!

I can't wait till the fully processed images, it's all quite exciting!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The Sounds of Titan

Here is a link that ley's you hear the sounds of Titan's winds while it was dropping in the atmosphere: planetary.org/sounds/huygens_sounds.html

Now, I hope that the mic stays on while Huygens rests on the Surface of Titan. It would be great to hear the actual winds blowing across the mic. More to come I understand.

Hat's off to the E.S.A.!

[Al Degutis]

I recorded two show on Discovery's Science Channel about the Huygens mission. I watch all of the first one, which was from Friday night, and half of the second one. Obviously it's too early for conclusive answers but here's what they've come to understand so far.

• Those rocks and boulders in the image are snowball-sized
  
• The temp is around 180° C
  
• The first color image shows an orange haze, in part due to the methane in the air
  
• There's no immediate sign of liquid but they believe the landscape has been effected by weathering.
  
• The fact that there are no crates visible supports the belief that some sort of weathering (moving liquids, winds, etc) has effected the surface

There were two computers transmitting data back to the Cassini spacecraft but due to a problem with an oscillator on Cassini it failed to receive anything being transmitted from "Channel A". On the plus side, 18 different radio telescopes on Earth were able to pick up the faint, very faint signal being transmitted from Huygens to Cassini and so that information can, and will, be pieced together for the missing data stream. Wow!

Hopefully, I'll try to get to watching the balance of the second show tomorrow.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

This has been such a great mission!

I understand that the batteries on Cassini were only good for a couple of hours and then the craft would and has gone silent. That's too bad, as the designers meant it for only a decent recording mission. The little machine gave us more than was expected...images right from the ground. What did the capsul have in terms of greetings from the People of earth?

Titan seems to be more of a planet-like body than just a moon. Theories abound that it might have been a captured planet. It would be great to have snapped a shot of Mighty Saturn rising over the horizon...rings and all! Next time.

This mission cost us just about the equivalent of two or three days in Iraq now. Let's hope now with a new NASA administrator coming in that we will aggressively push forward with space exploration.

Great to be around during all this.

[Al Degutis]

Chicago said:

This has been such a great mission!

I understand that the batteries on Cassini were only good for a couple of hours and then the craft would and has gone silent.

On the shows they stated that the batteries had a max life of 7 hours. I'm guessing they limited the battery life to conserve weight and provide more room for sensors. They received 3 hours of data, 1/2 hour more than expected, before Titan's rotation spun Huygens to the side opposite Cassini at which point Cassini then turned towards Earth to send us the data.

It is rather exciting!

[Al Degutis]

First I need to correct a glaring error in my last post. The surface temp of Titan is -180°C (I forgot the minus).

Chicago said:

What did the capsul have in terms of greetings from the People of earth?

It contained a CD with 4 "new age" music compilations. Plus the balancing weights, just like those used to balance our car tires, had the names of the principle scientists.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

It contained a CD with 4 "new age" music compilations

John Tesh?

I would have voted for more battery capacity/imaging and communication equipment than the cd and required player...they did include the player right....or did NASA think that future visitors would have the required CD player? Did the player include batteries...if so...how ironic!

Thank goodness that the 8-track is dead! Although...I still enjoy my collection!

[Al Degutis]

Chicago said:

I would have voted for more battery capacity/imaging and communication equipment than the cd and required player...they did include the player right....or did NASA think that future visitors would have the required CD player?

No CD player included.

The Keck Observatory was imaging Titan in infrared to try and detect any kind of atmospheric disturbance the decending/landing probe may have:

"Although no disturbances in Titan's atmosphere were detected, the observations provide the best images that characterize the satellite at the moment of probe entry", says Antonin Bouchez, a staff member at the Keck observatory, who was leading the observing effort."

Near-infrared surface image of Titan captured with Keck adaptive optics system moments after the Huygens probe reached its target at 09:06 GMT January 14, 2005.

The bright and dark patterns on Titan's surface may be regions of solid ice and of liquid hydrocarbons.


Full story: www2.keck.hawaii.edu/news/science/huygens/index.html

[Al Degutis]

Chicago said:

Now, I don't know what the abbreviations mean, but I sound smart when I refer to them.

I, now, know what one of them is. Both the Target Titan[/i] and the Touchdown on Saturn's Moon[/i] shows on Discovery Science talked about the SSP, which is a penetrometer. It's 1/20th of a second goal was to measure the impact on the landing site to determine what Huygens landed on.

Here's a page by Dr Lorenz who designed the SSP:

www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rlorenz/ssppen.html

The SSP got a lot of initial attention because it was the first science instrument to touch down and produce some instant results, although it still needs to be studied. The data showed that it penetrated a thin upper crust with a softness below. Both Dr. Lorenz and Prof. John Zarnecki (one of the principle investigators of the project) describe it a creme brule, which I've never had.

Here is a recent mosaic of Titan taken during the Huygens decent. It was reported that Huygens was not spinning properly, it was supposed to spin at a constant rate to get good 360° images, and they're postulating that it may be due to winds.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Al,

Excellent information.

The SSP got a lot of initial attention because it was the first science instrument to touch down and produce some instant results

I think that this claim is debatable. Did not the lunar lander Surveyor have landing probes, as did the manned Lunar Landers? And can't forget about the Russian Venera missions with extended probes.

Are they referring to the fact that IT was the first instrument on Huygens to start gathering landing data...or the FIRST instrument ever to do so? Anyway, it's still cool!

That Earth bound imaging from the Keck Ob is quite cool. One can actually see terrestial features. One would guess that imaging of Mars would be great, but I have never seen one from Keck.

[Al Degutis]

Chicago said:

Are they referring to the fact that IT was the first instrument on Huygens to start gathering landing data...or the FIRST instrument ever to do so?

Joe,

That was my assessment, not quoting them, and I meant it as one of the first instruments to provided quick results from Titan, not in space. Sorry for that confusion.

We've all seen the picture of Titan's rocks, but this one puts their sizes in perspective:

Now for more about those acronymed science instruments and initial findings:

DISR [Descent Imager and Spectral Radiometer]

• Composite images shows three dimensional structure
  
• Possible methane or ethane ground fog on surface
  
• Wind speed 7 metres per second at altitudes 10 to 20 km

GCMS [Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrometer]

• Detailed analysis of methane: In stratosphere -- uniform mixing.
  
• 90 minutes into descent and the methane mixing ratio (relative to nitrogen)
  changes indicating the possible presence of clouds.
  
• Methane mixing ratio is higher at the surface.

HASI [Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument]

• Data collected from entry covering the full deceleration of the probe and conducting a full analysis of the atmospheric structure.
  
• Measurements of pressure and temperature against altitude achieved.
  
• Surface temperature estimated at 93.8 K.
  
• Microphone recorded sounds in the Titan atmosphere as the probe descended.

SSP [Surface Science Package]

• Recovered 3 hours 37 minutes of data, including 1 hour 10 minutes on the surface.
  
• No data from any of the nine sensors was lost.
  
• Deceleration of about 15g in 40 milliseconds when Huygens touched down.
  
• Touchdown took place 2 hours 27 minutes 57 seconds after atmosphere interface.
  
• Penetrometer measurements suggest a thin crust of over the surface. Penetrometer extended 15 cm into the surface.
  
• Sonar measurements recorded data until about 12m above surface. Impact speed on surface 4.5 metres per second.

Source: ESA - sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=36370

[Al Degutis]

Found on anthony.liekens.net:

This work has been done by amateurs with no extensive scientific background, publishing the first images in under 8 hours. We'll have to wait for ESA/NASA to deliver us the correct images, so please, take the resulting images on this page with a grain of salt (that was a disclaimer). We have shown, however, to be able to bring composited images online earlier than ESA/NASA! It was an amazing night, these results have been gathered in about 8 hours time starting with the raw images and having no idea of what to expect, or what goals to reach.

The images that have been used are the same images that ESA/NASA is using, and we expect that the resulting images created by the professionals will be more extensive than those on this page, but they will be based on the same quality raw images as used in the pictures below, so do not expect higher resolutions from ESA or NASA.

Christian Waldvogel created full panoramas of the Titan surface, one normal and a polar view. This submission is really awesome! (added Jan 15 2004 22:05 CET, colored version added Jan 16 2004 18:54)

Composite of a 360-degrees view during descent, using 11 of the raw images. the raw images were corrected in brightness, scale and perspective and then stitched together. Missing areas on dark bottom and sky were completed with two-color-gradients. No information was added. Colors in the colored version were adjusted according to the ESA's colored surface view.

Full sized image here: skyinsight.net/images/titan_panorama_colored.jpg.

[starbux]

I found this animated gif that was constructed from raw images taken from the surface. The animation suggests to me that the lander is sitting in some shallow stream analogous to a brook or a beach at low tide with a constant flow of liquid. There are also some curious artifacts ("sprites"?) zipping in the area.



More intersting mods here: anthony.liekens.net/huygens_static.html

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Starbux,

Those are great shots of the surface. Such a lonely place. Someday man will step foot there and leave his trash behind.

I think it rather cool that ordinary folks are processing the raw images and presenting us with these pics.

With a computer...we are all connected.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Somebody Goofed...

We only received 350 images from Huygens, but we were supposed have gotten at least 700. The reason was:

Some one forgot to throw a switch!

The Huygens probe's mission to Titan has been universally hailed as a grand success. It has delivered stunning images of the moon's landscape and scientists are now poring over measurements of Titan's weather and soil. And yet it didn't all go exactly to plan. One aspect of the mission that hasn't been trumpeted quite so loudly is the fact that not all of Huygens' data actually arrived on Earth. So what happened to the rest of them? [e-mail] investigates.

Why didn't the receiver work?

The Channel A receiver was simply not turned on during the mission. "There's no mystery why it didn't turn on," says one scientist on the imaging team, who was upset by the loss. "The command was never sent to switch it on."


More here: rolos.nature.com/news/2005/050117/pf/050117-12_pf.html

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How incompetent is this? With no second chance, it was imperative that all was a-ok, with someone running through the checklist.

Well, if it's any consolation, at least NASA isn't alone in the "D'oh" moments.

Thanks to Douglas for sending me this via email.

[starbux]

Maybe the same thing happened with ESA's Beagle II? (less serious though, since Mars exploration is now a perennial thing) Thank goodness (and common sense) for redundant componants.

Still, it would have been awsome to have gotten all the possible photos. Speaking of which, aren't there supposed to be images yet to be released to the public?

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

What Huygens REALLY found on Titan...

This from the Satirical newspaper "The Onion"...

Sorry about number two...but it's true.