Unveiling the Mysteries of Titan: Exclusive Images of Huygens’ Historic Landing on Saturn’s Enigmatic Moon
Today’s “Space Image”: The Surface of Saturn’s Moon Titan
This photo was taken by the Huygens lander of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. The surface of the moon Titan is shown in this image, with actual colors emphasized through image processing.
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- Image credit: ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
- sorae - September 15 is the day the Cassini mission of the Saturn probe ended
Huygens’ Exploration of Titan
Huygens was launched in 1997 as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA) Cassini-Huygens Saturn exploration mission, and landed on Saturn’s moon Titan in 2005. Huygens’ exploration revealed that Titan has methane and ethane lakes, and that hydrocarbons circulate like water on Earth.
Video of Huygens’ Landing on Titan
The following video was released on January 12, 2017 by the official YouTube channel of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This video is based on real data acquired during the two-and-a-half-hour descent to the surface of Titan.
Around the 1:57 mark at the end of the video, when Huygens lands on Titan, a black shadow can be seen crossing in front of it. According to NASA, this is the shadow of the parachute that slowed the plane down during its descent.
Text/sorae editorial team