Huygens lands safely on Titan -- DONE!!

Australian radio telescopes are getting strong and persistent signals from
the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. As of now -- 14:04 GMT (9:04 AM EST) --
the Huygens signal is continuing strong, it's been on the surface more than
an hour. In another hour the Cassini will 'set' and stop receiving the
science data, but the direct signal may continue to be monitored somewhat
longer.

The relay of science data from the Cassinin mother ship begins in about an
hour, and by mid-afternoon preliminary data will be released.

www.spaceflightnow.com: 1332 GMT (8:32 a.m. EST)

Mission controllers say the tone from Huygens is still being received! The
craft appears to have landed around 1245 or 1246 GMT (7:45 or 7:46 a.m. EST)
on Titan and continues to operate from the moon's surface.

heh isn't it already exceeding it's expected lifetime? How long could it
concievably keep going?

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:26:30 +0000
"The drummer for Def Leppard only has one arm." "The drummer for Def
Leppard only has one arm." wrote:

heh isn't it already exceeding it's expected lifetime? How long could
it concievably keep going?

I don't think we will know how long Huygens continues to transmit cos no
one is now listening to it.

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:26:30 +0000
"The drummer for Def Leppard only has one arm." "The drummer for Def
Leppard only has one arm." wrote:

heh isn't it already exceeding it's expected lifetime? How long could
it concievably keep going?

I don't think we will know how long Huygens continues to transmit cos no
one is now listening to it.

Why do you think that?

--
Go Huygens, go!

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:34:21 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:26:30 +0000
"The drummer for Def Leppard only has one arm." "The drummer for
Def Leppard only has one arm." wrote:

heh isn't it already exceeding it's expected lifetime? How long
could it concievably keep going?

I don't think we will know how long Huygens continues to transmit
cos no one is now listening to it.

Why do you think that?

Cassini has now turned towards earth to transmit the data it got from
Huygens so cassini is not listening to huygens anymore.



--
Go Huygens, go!

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:34:21 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:26:30 +0000
"The drummer for Def Leppard only has one arm." "The drummer for
Def Leppard only has one arm." wrote:

heh isn't it already exceeding it's expected lifetime? How long
could it concievably keep going?

I don't think we will know how long Huygens continues to transmit
cos no one is now listening to it.

Why do you think that?

Cassini has now turned towards earth to transmit the data it got from
Huygens so cassini is not listening to huygens anymore.

Yes, but that doesn't mean Earth based radio observatories aren't still
listening. In fact, I'd bet my money they'll track the signal as long as
there is one.

--
Go Huygens, go!

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 17:07:01 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:34:21 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:26:30 +0000
"The drummer for Def Leppard only has one arm." "The drummer
for Def Leppard only has one arm." wrote:

heh isn't it already exceeding it's expected lifetime? How
long could it concievably keep going?

I don't think we will know how long Huygens continues to
transmit cos no one is now listening to it.

Why do you think that?

Cassini has now turned towards earth to transmit the data it got
from Huygens so cassini is not listening to huygens anymore.

Yes, but that doesn't mean Earth based radio observatories aren't
still listening. In fact, I'd bet my money they'll track the signal as
long as there is one.

Possibly but I would think any telescope capable would be trained on
cassini to receive the data back. By the time that data transfer has
completed Huygens will most likely be dead, i don't think it could have
gone on for much longer.



--
Go Huygens, go!

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 17:07:01 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:34:21 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:26:30 +0000
"The drummer for Def Leppard only has one arm." "The drummer
for Def Leppard only has one arm." wrote:

heh isn't it already exceeding it's expected lifetime? How
long could it concievably keep going?

I don't think we will know how long Huygens continues to
transmit cos no one is now listening to it.

Why do you think that?

Cassini has now turned towards earth to transmit the data it got
from Huygens so cassini is not listening to huygens anymore.

Yes, but that doesn't mean Earth based radio observatories aren't
still listening. In fact, I'd bet my money they'll track the signal as
long as there is one.

Possibly but I would think any telescope capable would be trained on
cassini to receive the data back.

Not quite. The radio dishes that receive transmissions from Cassini are part
of NASAs Deep Space network. These should not be confused with radio
telescopes around the world, whose main purpose is not communicating with
space probes but radio astronomy. These telescopes are the ones that were
used to detect the faint Huygens carrier signal.

By the time that data transfer has
completed Huygens will most likely be dead, i don't think it could have
gone on for much longer.

--
Go Huygens, go!

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 17:30:33 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 17:07:01 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:34:21 +0100
"Ugo" wrote:

"Ray Vingnutte" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:26:30 +0000
"The drummer for Def Leppard only has one arm." "The
drummer for Def Leppard only has one arm." wrote:

heh isn't it already exceeding it's expected lifetime? How
long could it concievably keep going?

I don't think we will know how long Huygens continues to
transmit cos no one is now listening to it.

Why do you think that?

Cassini has now turned towards earth to transmit the data it got
from Huygens so cassini is not listening to huygens anymore.

Yes, but that doesn't mean Earth based radio observatories aren't
still listening. In fact, I'd bet my money they'll track the
signal as long as there is one.

Possibly but I would think any telescope capable would be trained on
cassini to receive the data back.

Not quite. The radio dishes that receive transmissions from Cassini
are part of NASAs Deep Space network. These should not be confused
with radio telescopes around the world, whose main purpose is not
communicating with space probes but radio astronomy. These telescopes
are the ones that were used to detect the faint Huygens carrier
signal.

There's a press conference on now, so far all that has been said is that
Huygens was still transmitting two hours after landing but not clear if
that means it then died or what.


By the time that data transfer has
completed Huygens will most likely be dead, i don't think it could
have gone on for much longer.

--
Go Huygens, go!

Just said they still got the carrier signal at 15.15 european time
picked up in australia but are hoping to get other telescopes to
continue looking.