December 26th 04, 01:15 AM
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1249
Cassini Snaps Image of ESA's Huygens Probe
December 25, 2004
Full-Res: PIA06998 (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06998)
The Cassini spacecraft snapped this image of the European Space
Agency's
Huygens probe about 12 hours after its release from the orbiter. The
probe
successfully detached from Cassini on Dec. 24, 2004, and is on course
for
its January 14 encounter with Titan.
The Huygens probe 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.
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
Cassini Snaps Image of ESA's Huygens Probe
December 25, 2004
Full-Res: PIA06998 (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06998)
The Cassini spacecraft snapped this image of the European Space
Agency's
Huygens probe about 12 hours after its release from the orbiter. The
probe
successfully detached from Cassini on Dec. 24, 2004, and is on course
for
its January 14 encounter with Titan.
The Huygens probe 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.
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