SPACE — On December 25, 2004, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft dropped a lander named Huygens on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Huygens was a European spacecraft that hitched a ride on Cassini to the Saturn system.
Huygens fell asleep during his seven-year journey to Saturn. But his internal timer told him to wake up just before entering Titan’s atmosphere.
After Huygens parted ways with Cassini, his descent to Titan’s surface took three full weeks, landing on January 14, 2005. He spent two and a half hours parachuting through Titan’s atmosphere and transmitting data to Cassini, which then relayed it to operators on Earth.
After landing, Huygens transmitted data for an hour and a half before its batteries died. Data and images from Huygens reveal that Titan is one of the most Earth-like places in the solar system.
Also read: Cassini-Huygens, the most valuable suicide mission between Titan and Saturn
It has a thick atmosphere made of nitrogen and methane, and is covered by lakes of liquid methane. Huygens even discovered organic molecules on Titan. Scientists now think Titan is the best place to look for life in the solar system. Source: Space.com
2023-12-25 14:49:00
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