Final Countdown Till Huygens Touchdown!

Wow,
Very excited...Just a few more hours before Huygens impacts on Titan-will it crash?splashdown?form crater in ice?We shall see!.Anxiously awaiting the moment we start receiving the data transmitted via Cassini.What possible alien landscape might it possess?Sea of methane?Ice-Sculptered Wonderland?Very monumental day ahead(1-14-05) in the history of space exploration.


news.xinhuanet.com...

I can't wait to see what comes from this. I sure hope it makes it down in one piece. I really want to see the pics that come from it and see what Titan looks like. Any idea as to when we should be getting any info? It'll probably take a little while i'm sure.

Originally posted by jra Any idea as to when we should be getting any info? It'll probably take a little while i'm sure.

Yes,I too am very excited! Here's the estimated times from the link I provided:

The Huygens probe is expected to be awakened by an internal signal to be switched on at 11:42 p.m. EST (4:42 a.m. Jan. 14 GMT). NASA's Cassini satellite, from which Huygens separated in late December, will then orient itself toward Titan to prepare to pick up Huygens data.

By 4:05 a.m. EST (0905 GMT) Huygens is expected to arrive a Titan. It will not be until four hours later, at 8:59 a.m. EST (1359 GMT), that Cassini will orient its antenna toward Earth to send Huygens data.

An initial indication that Huygens entered Titan's atmosphere and deployed its primary parachute may be available from a signal picked up by the large Greenbank antenna in West Virginia at 5:30 a.m. EST (1030 GMT). But Lebreton said it will likely be not before 10:13 a.m. EST (1513 GMT) before scientists receive, via Cassini, the first of several data files indicating that Huygens had made the expected observations as it descends through Titan's atmosphere.

"We will be here waiting for the data, but the mission will be over," said Claudio Sollazzo, the European Space agency's Huygens operations manager. "That is probably one of the tensest moments for us." Enditem

news.xinhuanet.com...

According to the estimated times, it has rendezvous with Titan, hopefully intact or at least functional-if so this marks the furthest ever landing from Earth.Now just eagerly awaiting the data transmissions to confirm successful touchdown, and if triumphant,what fascinating scenes,perhaps even panoramas will be revealed from the approximate 750 images Huygens' collects during the mission.



www.cnn.com...

Cool cool...can't wait to see what we find..I hope its not as anti-climaxsih and deflating as the Viking Missions on Mars....
No NASA sites saying anything??..
Funny Xinhua got a lot of info..wonder why..

Originally posted by Daedalus3
No NASA sites saying anything??..
Funny Xinhua got a lot of info..wonder why..

Yes, I too was surprised with the detailed Xinhua link...

Here is the NASA links:

saturn.jpl.nasa.gov...

www.nasa.gov...

www.nasa.gov...

[edit on 14-1-2005 by Vajrayana]

[edit on 14-1-2005 by Vajrayana]

Originally posted by Daedalus3
Cool cool...can't wait to see what we find..I hope its not as anti-climaxsih and deflating as the Viking Missions on Mars..

..
No NASA sites saying anything??..
Funny Xinhua got a lot of info..wonder why..

Try the ESA, since Huygens mostly belongs to them I believe and not NASA. www.esa.int...

Thanks for the proper link jra

Well it landed. I'm just waiting for the pics

www.esa.int...

Ooooohhh!! I can't with hold the anticipation!!!
I hope they don't censor and do a US GOVT. wrap on some sensational discovery...

Me too, the anticipation is agonizing-ESA seems to be really slow releasing the data. In a way it's kind of sad,like the final postcards or message in a bottle from a marooned friend.I wonder if a human(s) will ever visit its final resting place.

Well the first picture is in. Oh my God! That looks like river channels on Titan! www.cnn.com

Would it not be funny if all it was, was a landscape that made made intirely out of icecubes?! I know...kinda dumb, am I wrong or is that the moon with the supposed ocean underneith the ice?

I wonder why they're taking so long in putting out more pictures. Only one so far. Maybe they're doing some editing things out? Makes me wonder......

The moon with the supposed ocean under the ice I belive is Io, Titan is supposed to have oceans of methane.

Can someon post the pic cos I can't find it

I wonder why they're taking so long in putting out more pictures. Only one so far. Maybe they're doing some editing things out? Makes me wonder......

Or maybe it just takes time to process the data into pics. The probe was only supposed to be active for a matter of minutes. Maybe that probe's programming was only allotted a few precious minutes of power for a few pics amongst taking other readings.

GO TO www.cnn.com THERE IS THE ONE AND ONLY PIC SO FAR ON THE MAIN PAGE!!!!!!!!!

I STILL SMELL SOMETHING FISHY IS GOING ON HERE. THEY'RE TAKING TOO LONG. WE'LL SEE...

The probe was active I believe for two hours and I read that it was supposed to take many thousands of images.

No kidding! Why only 1 pic since it was first release almost an hour ago? Amazing pic though. Look at those deep channels!

www.cnn.com

[edit on 14-1-2005 by meshuggah1324]

I seriously doubt there is anything to hide on Titan it is far to uninhabitable.