Huygens has landed on Titan!

[Ensign Steve]

Oooh... Ahhh... Space pictures. :)

The probe entered Titan's upper atmosphere at about 5:15 a.m. EST Jan. 14. During its two and one-half hour descent to the surface of the moon, it sampled the chemical composition of the atmosphere. The probe continued transmitting data for more than 90 minutes after reaching the surface.

Full story: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/cassini-011405.html

Pretty pictures: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html

More pictures: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/Cassini_Multimedia_Collection(Search_Agent)_archive_1.html

[Godless Wonder]

Salo will be happy to receive his spaceship part. Now maybe the Tralfamadorians will leave us alone.

[livius drusus]

It's orange. Cool. I really dig the multi-national aspect of the Cassini-Huygens mission, particularly since the Italian space agency is involved, and let's face it, they don't get a lot of press.

[Dingfod]

From what I read it landed in about 8 inches of mud. Is it Jovian lunardust mixed with liquid methane? Some sort of liquid flows in rivers through a landscape littered with boulders of water ice to a sea of liquid slush, very alien, yet familiar.

[Shake]

Now, is that all there is to the Huygens part of the mission? They said it was supposed to transmit data back to Cassini for a couple of hours -- but then what? Shut down for good? I realize it's not like the Mars rovers and can't go anywhere.

Anyone?

[JoeP]

My assumption was that they had no guarantee it would even survive the landing, so they didn't build in fuel, bigger batteries or solar panels.

[Shake]

So basically, when it's done, it's done!?!

[Dingfod]

From what I read it landed in about 8 inches of mud. Is it Jovian lunardust mixed with liquid methane? Some sort of liquid flows in rivers through a landscape littered with boulders of water ice to a sea of liquid slush, very alien, yet familiar.It just dawned on me, Titan is a moon of Saturn, not Jupiter. So, is the mud Saturnalian lunardust mixed with liquid methane?

[JoeP]

So basically, when it's done, it's done!?!
yup (http://news.ft.com/cms/s/fc8a556c-682d-11d9-a11e-00000e2511c8.html)

[JoeP]

From what I read it landed in about 8 inches of mud. Is it Jovian lunardust mixed with liquid methane? Some sort of liquid flows in rivers through a landscape littered with boulders of water ice to a sea of liquid slush, very alien, yet familiar.It just dawned on me, Titan is a moon of Saturn, not Jupiter. So, is the mud Saturnalian lunardust mixed with liquid methane?
You only said Jovian earlier to test us, didn't you?

I think if we knew what the surface was made of, we wouldn't have needed to send a probe. However, dust+methane sounds like the most common theory. Apparently the data they got in the few hours (descent and on the surface) before the probe died (or was smashed by angry locals) will keep NASA and ESA scientists busy for years.

I worry about space junk. Will we, as a species, ever go and clear up the mess we're creating around the solar system?

[Dingfod]

I worry about space junk. Will we, as a species, ever go and clear up the mess we're creating around the solar system?No. (http://www.sacdot.com/services/images/litter.jpg)

[Ensign Steve]

I think it will be cool when we've sent out enough space junk to make a difference in the mass of our planet. Then we'll be like that planet on HHGttG where you have to get a receipt every time you go to the bathroom.

[JoeP]

I think it will be cool when we've sent out enough space junk to make a difference in the mass of our planet. Then we'll be like that planet on HHGttG where you have to get a receipt every time you go to the bathroom.
Meaning we'll have to send up more junk than we create ... quite a tall order.

I can think of some people who could usefully be sent on a one-way tourist trip. In fact I have a name for the scheme but it's not very freethinking to say it.

[Ensign Steve]

I think it will be cool when we've sent out enough space junk to make a difference in the mass of our planet. Then we'll be like that planet on HHGttG where you have to get a receipt every time you go to the bathroom.
Meaning we'll have to send up more junk than we create ... quite a tall order.

Um, but don't we create our junk out of materials already found on our planet?

[JoeP]

Well, if you want to be pedantic, yes.