"A Fantastic Success... We are the first visitors to the surface of Titan."
- ESA chief at this morning's Huygens (First Science Data Recieved) Briefing
[that we know of]
"Huygens continued to send data, received here on Earth through ground stations, after Cassini had to end scheduled high-data rate reception to turn and relay science to us."
"All spacecraft housekeeping data in the stream looks normal."
I may be misinterpreting this early (more coffee on the way), but I took this to mean that the batteries lasted longer than expected, and effectively that we have more data from Huygens on the surface of Titan than we had bandwidth for.
Cassini was always due to have limited data take due to orbit planning, but the fact that Earth stations picked up the Huygens-to-Cassini carrier signal and our final limitation on new data is/was the shortage of "big ears" more than a billion miles away.
"Last spacecraft Carrier was at 1555GMT from a station in Australia... Radio telescopes around the world are being requested to try and track longer to extend the scientific doppler work and see how long Huygens survives"
- Huygens Principal Investigator Jean-Pierre ???
The first "Actual Science Results" briefing won't start for a few hours as they decompress the datastream and collect enough info to feed the world's media.
This raw image was returned by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera onboard the European Space Agency's Huygens probe after the probe descended through the atmosphere of Titan. It shows the surface of Titan with ice blocks strewn around. The size and distance of the blocks will be determined when the image is properly processed.
Total size of the effective Huygens Data Set during primary relay via Cassini: 4h32m (end by Horizon)
- beyond expected battery life/'warranty' period
Data decompression & replay scheduled for 8 replay sessions to ensure error free decode.
Preliminary analysis suggest no packet loss on Channel B, good science...
primarily - atmospheric composition, charge, pressure, etc... at one second inhalations on the way to the surface.
Extended carrier wave detection from Earth Radio Telescopes as bonus doppler science not finalized.
New composite image surface pictures in a panorama
Quote:
This composite was produced from images returned yesterday, January 14, 2005, by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. It shows a full 360-degree view around Huygens. The left-hand side, behind Huygens, shows a boundary between light and dark areas. The white streaks seen near this boundary could be ground 'fog,' as they were not immediately visible from higher altitudes.
As the probe descended, it drifted over a plateau (center of image) and was heading towards its landing site in a dark area (right). From the drift of the probe, the wind speed has been estimated at around 6-7 kilometers (about 4 miles) per hour.
These images were taken from an altitude of about 8 kilometers ( about 5 miles) with a resolution of about 20 meters (about 65 feet) per pixel. The images were taken by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, one of two NASA instruments on the probe.
and the processed, colour version of the surface of Titan seen yesterday.
Quote:
This image was returned yesterday, January 14, 2005, by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. This is the colored view, following processing to add reflection spectra data, and gives a better indication of the actual color of the surface.
Initially thought to be rocks or ice blocks, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) (left) and 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) (center) across respectively, at a distance of about 85 centimeters (about 33 inches) from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected, consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible fluvial activity.
The image was taken with the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, one of two NASA instruments on the probe.
Aside from the admission of a human error in failing to enable Cassini capture of the A data channel, it looks and sounds like a great success so far.
one of the biggest steps humanity has evertaken . . . .
i dunno.... i love space exploration, but when you take a step back and think about it, it's a huge waste of money. say that we discover some cool things and learn more about how Earth was formed. how does that help us? it's not like we need to worry about building our own planets. so what if we find out that the center of earth isnt magma like everyone pretends to know 'as a fact'? what the hell would that information do for us? you're right--nothing. studying dark matter and other things related to energy are important, but not taking pictures of a moon that would take us like 50 years to travel to.
i dunno.... i love space exploration, but when you take a step back and think about it, it's a huge waste of money. say that we discover some cool things and learn more about how Earth was formed. how does that help us? it's not like we need to worry about building our own planets. so what if we find out that the center of earth isnt magma like everyone pretends to know 'as a fact'? what the hell would that information do for us? you're right--nothing. studying dark matter and other things related to energy are important, but not taking pictures of a moon that would take us like 50 years to travel to.
ok i'm done ranting.
The day science decides that the only topics worth studying are those with a reasonable likelihood of generating "practical" results is the day it ceases to be science.
The day science decides that the only topics worth studying are those with a reasonable likelihood of generating "practical" results is the day it ceases to be science.
fair enough, but i'd like my tax money back (the portion of it going to NASA).
NASA certainly spends a lot of money (16B), but not when compared to the overall expenditures of the US government. And while the money spent on NASA could arguably be put to better uses, Americans spend only about $60 dollars each year per citizen to cover this 16B. Depending on your bracket, you might get a decent something back if we didn't spend 16B each year on it, but the "real" money (and potential savings) really lie elsewhere within our gigantic and sprawling annual expenditures.
Comments
- ESA chief at this morning's Huygens (First Science Data Recieved) Briefing
[that we know of]
"Huygens continued to send data, received here on Earth through ground stations, after Cassini had to end scheduled high-data rate reception to turn and relay science to us."
"All spacecraft housekeeping data in the stream looks normal."
I may be misinterpreting this early (more coffee on the way), but I took this to mean that the batteries lasted longer than expected, and effectively that we have more data from Huygens on the surface of Titan than we had bandwidth for.
Cassini was always due to have limited data take due to orbit planning, but the fact that Earth stations picked up the Huygens-to-Cassini carrier signal and our final limitation on new data is/was the shortage of "big ears" more than a billion miles away.
"Last spacecraft Carrier was at 1555GMT from a station in Australia... Radio telescopes around the world are being requested to try and track longer to extend the scientific doppler work and see how long Huygens survives"
- Huygens Principal Investigator Jean-Pierre ???
The first "Actual Science Results" briefing won't start for a few hours as they decompress the datastream and collect enough info to feed the world's media.
Landing on other worlds is cool.
not one packet was lost from B Channel...
the redundant A channel data is a bit unhappy
Anxiously awaiting data...
Titan is the most enigmatic moon of the solar system.
In the next coming hours, we will see the first images and audio recording of this moon.
BBC link
landing succseffully on a planet/moon that far away is just mind boggling . . . . one of the biggest steps humanity has evertaken . . . .
now if we can just get our terrestrial act together . .
Originally posted by pfflam
AWESOME . . . unbelieveable!!!
landing succseffully on a planet/moon that far away is just mind boggling . . . . one of the biggest steps humanity has evertaken . . . .
now if we can just get our terrestrial act together . .
Yes it's very exciting, and the scientific info collected may lead to great scientific discoveries.
Hmm, what's Paris Hilton wearing today?
First pictures are a possibility, but early results suggest it landed on a solid surface, not liquid.
ESA/NASA TV are getting ready for the first true science briefing, potentially with pics.
Should we merge this into the general Saturn Exploration thread, Powerdoc?
showed two from more than 10km up... below the haze looking down.
claiming to see drainage features... pics aren't posted yet, and aren't processed to clean noise either...
should get clearer later
Originally posted by curiousuburb
ESA's Cassini-Huygens Home Page has linked clips from some of the earlier press events.
ESA/NASA TV are getting ready for the first true science briefing, potentially with pics.
Should we merge this into the general Saturn Exploration thread, Powerdoc?
Yes my bad. Perhaps I should do some thread's title editing too. Because today was the day
Titan Close-Up - Jan. 14, 2005
This raw image was returned by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera onboard the European Space Agency's Huygens probe after the probe descended through the atmosphere of Titan. It shows the surface of Titan with ice blocks strewn around. The size and distance of the blocks will be determined when the image is properly processed.
Total size of the effective Huygens Data Set during primary relay via Cassini: 4h32m (end by Horizon)
- beyond expected battery life/'warranty' period
Data decompression & replay scheduled for 8 replay sessions to ensure error free decode.
Preliminary analysis suggest no packet loss on Channel B, good science...
primarily - atmospheric composition, charge, pressure, etc... at one second inhalations on the way to the surface.
Extended carrier wave detection from Earth Radio Telescopes as bonus doppler science not finalized.
More info at the 1/15 ESA Briefing
Originally posted by curiousuburb
"Last spacecraft Carrier was at 1555GMT from a station in Australia...
Tidbinbilla Deep Space Tracking Station. Just down the road from where I sit this very minute.
Love those channels. The lumps were "oh shit, it looks just like frickin' Mars" until it turns out they're ice.
Sounds of Titan
Titan Winds.mp3
Radar Descent.mp3
New composite image surface pictures in a panorama
This composite was produced from images returned yesterday, January 14, 2005, by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. It shows a full 360-degree view around Huygens. The left-hand side, behind Huygens, shows a boundary between light and dark areas. The white streaks seen near this boundary could be ground 'fog,' as they were not immediately visible from higher altitudes.
As the probe descended, it drifted over a plateau (center of image) and was heading towards its landing site in a dark area (right). From the drift of the probe, the wind speed has been estimated at around 6-7 kilometers (about 4 miles) per hour.
These images were taken from an altitude of about 8 kilometers ( about 5 miles) with a resolution of about 20 meters (about 65 feet) per pixel. The images were taken by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, one of two NASA instruments on the probe.
and the processed, colour version of the surface of Titan seen yesterday.
This image was returned yesterday, January 14, 2005, by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. This is the colored view, following processing to add reflection spectra data, and gives a better indication of the actual color of the surface.
Initially thought to be rocks or ice blocks, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) (left) and 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) (center) across respectively, at a distance of about 85 centimeters (about 33 inches) from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected, consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible fluvial activity.
The image was taken with the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, one of two NASA instruments on the probe.
Aside from the admission of a human error in failing to enable Cassini capture of the A data channel, it looks and sounds like a great success so far.
Originally posted by pfflam
one of the biggest steps humanity has evertaken . . . .
i dunno.... i love space exploration, but when you take a step back and think about it, it's a huge waste of money. say that we discover some cool things and learn more about how Earth was formed. how does that help us? it's not like we need to worry about building our own planets. so what if we find out that the center of earth isnt magma like everyone pretends to know 'as a fact'? what the hell would that information do for us? you're right--nothing. studying dark matter and other things related to energy are important, but not taking pictures of a moon that would take us like 50 years to travel to.
ok i'm done ranting.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
i dunno.... i love space exploration, but when you take a step back and think about it, it's a huge waste of money. say that we discover some cool things and learn more about how Earth was formed. how does that help us? it's not like we need to worry about building our own planets. so what if we find out that the center of earth isnt magma like everyone pretends to know 'as a fact'? what the hell would that information do for us? you're right--nothing. studying dark matter and other things related to energy are important, but not taking pictures of a moon that would take us like 50 years to travel to.
ok i'm done ranting.
The day science decides that the only topics worth studying are those with a reasonable likelihood of generating "practical" results is the day it ceases to be science.
Originally posted by addabox
The day science decides that the only topics worth studying are those with a reasonable likelihood of generating "practical" results is the day it ceases to be science.
fair enough, but i'd like my tax money back (the portion of it going to NASA).