Huygens Probe Shines for Cassini's Cameras

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/pres...cfm?newsID=521

Huygens Probe Shines for Cassini's Cameras
December 27, 2004
(Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

The European Space Agency's Huygens probe appears shining as it coasts
away from Cassini in this close-up of an image taken on Dec. 26, 2004,
just two days after it successfully detached from the Cassini
spacecraft.

Shown here side-by-side is a close-up of the Huygens probe. The image
on
the left shows the relative size of the probe. The bright spots in both
images are probably due to light reflecting off the blanketing material
that covers the probe. Although only a few pixels across, this image is
helping navigators reconstruct the probe's trajectory and pinpoint its
position relative to Cassini. This information so far shows that the
probe and Cassini are right on the mark and well within the predicted
trajectory accuracy. This information is important to help establish
the
required geometry between the probe and the orbiter for radio
communications during the probe descent on January 14.

The Huygens probe, built and managed by ESA, will remain dormant until
the onboard timer wakes it up just before the probe reaches Titan's
upper atmosphere on Jan. 14, 2005. Then it will begin a dramatic plunge
through Titan's murky atmosphere, tasting its chemical makeup and
composition as it descends to touch down on its surface. The data
gathered during this 2-1/2 hour descent will be transmitted from the
probe to the Cassini orbiter.

Afterward, Cassini will point its antenna to Earth and relay the data
through NASA's Deep Space Network to JPL and on to the European Space
Agency's Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, which serves as
the operations center for the Huygens probe mission. From this control
center, ESA engineers will be tracking the probe and scientists will be
standing by to process the data from the probe's six instruments.

This image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera at
a distance of 52 kilometers (32 miles) from the probe on Dec. 26, 2004.
The image has been magnified and contrast enhanced to aid visibility.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were
designed, developed and assembled at JPL.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini .
Credit: NASA/JPL

What kind of picture is that? It doesn't show anything! Why won't
NASA release any "real" photos of the separation, not 12 hours after?
Anyone else find this strange?