Cassini/Huygens Mission Update Thread

[abq_farside]

Does anybody know how long Cassini would be in position to receive tranmissions from Huygens? <br />I thought they did not expect Huygens to last very long on the surface and I know Cassini is continuing on its orbital path, but if Huygens was able to transmit longer than expected, would Cassini been able to receive the data? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><em><font size="1" color="#000080">Don't let who you are keep you from becoming who you want to be!</font></em></p> </div>

 

[tap_sa]

Watching that french blonde Anne-Marie from Alcatel on NASA webcast made me feel quite warm... <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[serak_the_preparer]

<i>Scientists have another 40 minutes of suspense before the first Huygens data arrives on Earth...</i><br /><br />Man, the speed of light is slow! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[telfrow]

<br />From SpaceFlightNow.com...<br /><br />FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2005<br />1545 GMT (10:45 a.m. EST)<br /><br />NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter has turned back toward Earth and started transmitting stored data from Europe's Huygens probe, which was still broadcasting a faint carrier signal from the surface of the moon Titan more than two hours after touching down and well after Cassini had turned away. <br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[abq_farside]

<i>NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter has turned back toward Earth and started transmitting stored data from Europe's Huygens probe, which was still broadcasting a faint carrier signal from the surface of the moon Titan more than two hours after touching down and well after Cassini had turned away. </i><br /><br />What a shame to lose that unexpected data<img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" />.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><em><font size="1" color="#000080">Don't let who you are keep you from becoming who you want to be!</font></em></p> </div>

 

[chew_on_this]

It's too bad we can't recieve telemetry here on earth for as long as the probe can transmit.

 

[Leovinus]

A whole lot of nothing on NTV right now. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[telfrow]

From SpaceFlightNow.com...<br /><br />FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2005<br />1605 GMT (11:05 a.m. EST)<br /><br />Scientists, engineers and senior officials have gathered in a large crowd within the European mission control center. Everyone is nervously awaiting the first bits of data from Huygens. <br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[nacnud]

Didn't they manage to hear the carrier signal from Huygens directly through the Australian dish, or am I mistaken?

 

[serak_the_preparer]

<i>Scientists, engineers and senior officials have gathered in a large crowd within the European mission control center. Everyone is nervously awaiting the first bits of data from Huygens.</i><br /><br />Okay, Calli - wherever you are out there - this is it! : )<br /><br />Telfrow, keep those updates coming!

 

[imran10]

Looks like everything is working perfectly. I wonder how long we will have to wait to get those first pictures.<br /><br />FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2005<br />1619 GMT (11:19 a.m. EST)<br /><br />The Huygens data is being received! Applause has erupted in the German control room after the tense and anxious wait. It will take some time to begin examining the information. The first pictures from Huygens could be released later today, if all has gone well.

 

[chew_on_this]

Yes, but no telemetry comes through.

 

[Leovinus]

Just a lot of patting each other on the back right now. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[chew_on_this]

I saw a cool animation this morning on a large blimp like probe. It drops a rover from a tether into a possible hydrocarbon lake which could drive around under the liquid. Not exactly sure what program it's associated with.

 

[serak_the_preparer]

<i>I hope if this mission is successful, it further motivates esa and nasa to send probes/rover/swimmers etc... to titan and get a more detailed look at this mysterious world. Does anyone know if something like that is in the works?</i><br /><br />Sluggah316,<br /><br />Things are moving fast on this thread, so perhaps someone has already come in ahead of me with the answer. But in any case, here it is:<br /><br />Yes! : )<br /><br />NAI: Year 6 Annual Report: The Astrobiological Exploration of Titan Focus Group<br /><br /><i>The result of the Cassini-Huygens mission will be a level of understanding of the geology, geodesy, atmospheric physics and surface-atmosphere interactions on Titan rivaling that for Mars after Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) (with the exception of a lack of a detailed global altimetric map of the body). Further, Cassini-Huygens will provide us with information regarding the distribution and nature of organics spread across the Titan surface. Should there be surface compositional variations in the organics, especially correlated with apparent geologic activity or crustal melting, the interest in returning to Titan to sample those interesting places directly, for signs of oxygen-bearing organics like amino or carboxylic acids for example, will be high.<br /><br /><b>Indeed, NASA has already expressed interest in initial planning for a post-Cassini mission to Titan, and it appears likely that such a mission will be high on the list of astrobiologically interesting programs in the planetary decadal strategy now being prepared. In March 2004 NASA selected two future Titan missions for study</b>, one of which is led by the Titan Focus Group (TFG) Chair and is an organics analysis package for Titan's surface. A highlight of this effort will be a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Team-X study of the mission, in 2005, in which the TFG will participate</i>

 

[mikejz]

The lost Huygens trasmissions:<br /><br />Yep, still cold.<br /><br />My batteries are getting kinda low.<br /><br />Still cold. This rock is hurting my a**.<br /><br />God damned this rock. It's poking right into my radiothermal heater.<br /><br />Holy s**t it's cold here.<br /><br />Batteries about to give out. Hey, is anybody listening?<br /><br />Heeeellllo, anybody there? Cassini? Can you hear me?<br /><br />Great, I'm going to die with a f***ing rock in my a** and nobody listening to me.

 

[flynn]

LOL, Now I know how Beagle felt. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

LOL<br /><br />I like this one from Slashdot (by daveashcroft (321122)):<br /><br /><b>First Data Recieved via Cassini!</b><br /><br /> Straight from the JPL:<br /><br />01000001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100010 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100010 01100101 01101100 01101111 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110101 01110011 00100001

 

[tap_sa]

And the final transmission that gets censored:<br /><br />Wait ... I hear footsteps ... HEY! ... OVER HERE! ... ... Oh my*end of transmission*

 

[bobw]

This is a really good press conference.<br /><br />Too bad they didn't put some data on their ground link. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bobw]

The reporters all have NASA envy. Where's the pictures? <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[mikejz]

Hehe, a dinner for reporters.....JPL never does anything like that!

 

[flynn]

<i>"First Data Recieved via Cassini! <br /><br />Straight from the JPL: <br /><br />01000001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100010 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100010 01100101 01101100 01101111 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110101 01110011 00100001 "</i><br /><br />Reminds me of Benders nightmare where it ends in a 2. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[telfrow]

FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2005<br />1722 GMT (12:22 p.m. EST)<br /><br />NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter began downlinking science data from the European Space Agency's Huygens probe at 11:19 a.m. EST (1619 GMT), confirming the spacecraft not only survived its high-speed plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan, but that its instruments worked to remotely explore one of the strangest worlds in the solar system. <br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[tap_sa]

<font color="yellow">"Reminds me of Benders nightmare where it ends in a 2."</font><br /><br />It appears that on 'channel A' it did. But no other science is lost except direct Doppler wind experiment between Huygens and Cassini?