Cassini/Huygens Mission Update Thread

[serak_the_preparer]

First Huygens Picture of Titan<br /><br />Site is obviously very busy now and difficult to access. I'm betting someone has already posted the image above. So, to make this post a little more worthwhile, this is for Flynn:<br /><br />Futurama &#960;k - Mathematics in the Year 3000<br /><br />For those who haven't taken a look at this article, it may hold items of interest, especially in view of the first image of Huygens to be released:<br /><br />Plunge To Methane Lake? (Astrobiology Magazine)<br /><br />Also:<br /><br />The Science Channel is running a special - <b>Rendezvous With Saturn's Moon</b> - <i>right now</i>.<br /><br />And this is for CalliArcale:<br /><br />Life on Titan (BBC)<br /><br /><i>Once upon a time, Titan may have been a lot warmer than today. Liquid water oceans may have flowed across its surface, breeding microscopic life. As the world began to freeze over, these life-forms could have survived beneath the surface.<br /><br />However, any creatures living there now couldn't rely on the distant Sun for their energy supply. They'd have to feed entirely from the chemicals in Titan's ocean...</i><br /><br />(Latest update on the Beeb's coverage by Paul Rincon:<br />Titan data from Huygens arrives)

 

[qzzq]

Woohooo!!!<br /><br />Excellent!! Thanks for posting that link. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>***</p> </div>

 

[lucas78]

Like this one?<br /><br />http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/landing_02_H.jpg<br /><br />I'm somewhat finding it terribly scaring <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <br /><br />Description of the above mentioned image:<br /><br /><i>This is one of the first raw images returned by the ESA Huygens probe during its successful descent.It was taken at an altitude of 8 kilometres with a resolution of 20 metres per pixel. It shows what could be the landing site, with shorelines and boundaries between raised ground and flooded plains.</i>

 

[spacechump]

<i><br />"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 "<br /><br />Reminds me of Benders nightmare where it ends in a 2.</i><br /><br />No that crazy. Everyone knows there is no such thing as 2s.

 

[abq_farside]

Why does it take so long for the ESA to release its pictures? I am not talking about the transmit time from Saturn to Earth but the time it takes once NASA/ESA has received the transmission to the first released picture. It seems it was 3+ hours before the 1st one was released.<br /><br />I seem to remember that when the rovers landed, NASA TV showed the first pictures immediately. <br /><br />Maybe I am wrong but the impression I get is that the ESA scientists analyze the pictures first before releasing them.<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>

 

[serak_the_preparer]

This image, featured above Paul Rincon's current update on the mission (Huygens sends first Titan images (BBC)), is pretty cool. More dramatic in certain ways than what I caught on television earlier, darker.

 

[douglas_clark]

abq_farside,<br /><br />Dunno, but they are brilliant pictures!<br /><br />Douglas

 

[lucas78]

a few more pics here:<br /><br />http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~kholso/data.htm<br /><br /><br />The following one (middle one) really impressed me, very earthly like!<br /><br />http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/%7Ekholso/jpeg/triplet.541.jpg

 

[aerogi]

Yeah can't see them either...

 

[bobvanx]

Whoops!<br /><br />The Arizona.edu pics seem to be missing...<br /><br />Here's a couple from there:

 

[lucas78]

Damn...But I originally took them from this link, which is still showing them! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />http://users.bigpond.net.au/scotsons_shack/Astronomy.htm

 

[aerogi]

Thanks a lot Lucas78!

 

[claywoman]

I am sitting here with tears streaming down my cheeks...I cannot believe I lived long enough to see this!!! It's phenomenol!!! To see something no other human has ever seen before this day...WOW!!! Makes me wish I was better at math so I could have studied this in detail!!!<br /><br />My God, my grandkids are never going to understand my feelings at this moment. I almost have no words to express what I'm feeling right at this moment...

 

[serak_the_preparer]

And now it seems to be popping up elsewhere, too. Just caught it over on SpaceDaily, where it accompanies the AFP story Huygens Lands On Titan.

 

[heyo]

I share your enthusiasm. I have waited for this for a long time. Many thanks for the folks on this board for finding the latest pictures before the masses even get to see them.<br /><br />I know that this is pretty much a black and white affair, that it didn't take color pictures. But I wonder if it will be possible to colorize them based on the light wavelegths received, or do something like they on the Mars rovers with the filters, so we can see something like what your eyes would see if you were there.<br /><br />Also, will higher resolution, larger photos be coming back? Or will they all be these little triplets?<br /><br />Heyo

 

[estrand]

I took some of the triplet files and played with the brightness/contrast. Very interesting!<br /><br />http://img9.exs.cx/img9/4122/titancollage0lb.jpg

 

[bobvanx]

These little triplets will get assembled into nice panoramas, which is one reason for waiting for the images.<br /><br />Here's a low-level splice, showing that the drainage channels really do drain into the dark area: http://pixelrangers.blogspot.com/

 

[wvbraun]

Congratulations to all the people who made it possible. These pictures are stunning. I never expected Huygens to perform so well.

 

[silylene old]

Holy cow !<br /><br />I just got back from work, these pictures far exceed my most hoped for results ! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[astrophoto]

So does the ground-based camera pivot or rotate at all or should we assume all of the ground level pictures will be of the same angle/direction?

 

[SpaceKiwi]

Absolutely amazing! After the Mars Rovers last year and now this, I submit that all future landers make their landfall in January for maximum reliability and WOW-ability! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[silylene old]

So, I have looked around for this, but could not find an answer.<br /><br />Were any Earth-based telescopes able to observe the fireball as the Huygens probe entered the Titanian atmosphere? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[telfrow]

Amazing...no craters...young, dynamic surface with some form of liquid. This is beyond anything I imagined. <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>

 

[fangsheath]

An interview a few minutes ago clarified something for me. It seemed like the shots on the ground were more elevated than they should be, but in fact the rocks (or chunks of ice, whatever they are) are a mere 10-20 cm in size. This would bring the height down to what I would expect. Interesting that all the rocks in the area seem to be small.

 

[qzzq]

There will be a press conference on the preliminary scientific results tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure we'll learn a lot more then. <br /><br />This is a great day. I was fearing another Beagle II or Genesis Probe...instead its the same buzz as with the Mars Rovers, perhaps even more so, since Titan is somewhat more of a mystery than Mars.<br /><br />We should send a rover asap!! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>***</p> </div>