Huygens Probe to Titan

The Huygens space probe, built by the European Space Agency, landed on Saturn's giant moon Titan in January 2005. Huygens transmitted measurements of Titan's thick atmosphere, and images of the mysterious moon's surface, back to scientists on Earth.

The probe had ridden "piggyback" on NASA's Cassini spacecraft during the seven-year journey from Earth. Cassini released Huygens on December 24, 2004, three weeks before the probe's plunge into Titan's atmosphere on January 14, 2005. Huygens was hurtling at a speed of six km/s (13,400 mph) when it entered Titan's upper atmosphere, protected by a heat shield that could withstand the 1,700° C (3,000° F) temperatures of atmospheric heating. A series of parachutes further slowed the spacecraft and gently lowered it during its two-hour descent through Titan's dense atmosphere. Instruments on the probe measured many properties of the atmosphere during descent. Upon landing, Huygens measured properties of the moon's frigid (-178º C, -288º F) surface, transmitting data to Cassini (which relayed it to Earth) for a couple of hours after landing until Cassini disappeared over Titan's horizon.

Huygens carried a suite of instrument packages for studying Titan's atmosphere, including the Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser (ACP), Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE), Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrometer (GCMS), and Huygens Atmosphere Structure Instrument (HASI). A camera on the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR), which also measured atmospheric properties and the spectra of the surface, captured several hundred images. Once on the ground, the probe's Surface Science Package (SSP) measured properties of the surface materials, such as their temperature and heat conductivity, electrical resistance, index of refraction, and speed of sound.

The probe was named in honor of the 17th century Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. Huygens discovered Titan in 1655.

Last modified January 21, 2005 by Randy Russell.

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Cassini

The Cassini probe began its journey to Saturn on October 15, 1997. It flew by Earth in August, 1999, before heading towards the distant planet. Cassini passed Jupiter in 2000 and then burned towards its...more

Cassini is Off!

Cassini has begun its 2.2 billion-mile journey to Saturn. Cassini was launched on a Titan rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early in the morning on October 15, 1997. The Cassini probe is one...more

Huygens probe on its way to Titan

NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is in orbit around Saturn, released the Huygens probe and sent it on its way to Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The probe, pushed away from the Cassini "mothership"...more

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was one of the most important exploration tools of the past two decades, and will continue to serve as a great resource well into the new millennium. The HST is credited...more

Apollo 11

Driven by a recent surge in space research, the Apollo program hoped to add to the accomplishments of the Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor missions of the late 1960's. Apollo 11 was the first mission to succeed...more

Apollo 12

Apollo 12 survived a lightning strike during its launch on Nov. 14, 1969, and arrived at the Moon three days later. Astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean descended to the surface, while Richard Gordon...more

Apollo 15

Apollo 15 marked the start of a new series of missions from the Apollo space program, each capable of exploring more lunar terrain than ever before. Launched on July 26, 1971, Apollo 15 reached the Moon...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA