Huygens Probe to Titan

A robot spaceship landed on the biggest moon of the planet Saturn in January 2005. The spaceship was named Huygens. Huygens landed on the moon Titan on January 14, 2005.

Huygens had been riding on the side of another spaceship for seven years. NASA's Cassini spacecraft carried Huygens to Saturn from Earth. Cassini "let go" of Huygens on December 24, 2004.

Huygens studied the atmosphere of Titan. Parachutes on Huygens lowered it through Titan's atmosphere. Then Huygens landed on Titan. The surface of Titan is very, very cold. The temperature there is about -178º C (-288º F)!

The spaceship was named after Christiaan Huygens. Christiaan Huygens was a Dutch astronomer. He 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 is Off!

Cassini is on its way to Saturn. It will take the Cassini spacecraft over 6 years to get to Saturn. Cassini was launched on a rocket early in the morning on October 15. The Cassini spacecraft is a big...more

Cassini

Cassini is the name of a robot spacecraft. Cassini is studying the planet Saturn. It is also studying many of Saturn's moons and Saturn's cool rings. Cassini blasted off from Earth in 1997. It took Cassini...more

Huygens probe on its way to Titan

A spacecraft named Cassini is orbiting around the planet Saturn right now. Cassini carried another, smaller robot space probe with it on its long trip from Earth. The smaller probe is named Huygens. Huygens...more

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is really neat! It was first launched in 1990, but scientists started building it in the 1970's! We have found all kinds of objects like stars, nebulae and galaxies. The...more

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was the first mission that landed a person on the moon. On July 16, 1969, the U. S. rocket Saturn 5 was launched carrying the lunar landing module Eagle. The Eagle was released and it reached...more

Apollo 12

Apollo 12 was launched on Nov. 14, 1969 and arrived at the Moon three days later. Astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean descended to its surface, while Richard Gordon remained in lunar orbit aboard the...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