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Science & Space

Huygens probe ready for launch to Titan

By Dave Santucci and Michael Coren
CNN

Huygens, a 703-pound probe, was designed by the European Space Agency.
Huygens, a 703-pound probe, was designed by the European Space Agency.
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Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its moon Titan:

  • SATURN: Planet second in size to Jupiter with a diameter of 74,898 miles (120,511 km). Seven rings of ice and rock particles with 31 known moons. Visited by Pioneer 11 (1979), Voyager 1 (1980), Voyager 2 (1981).

  • TITAN: Largest Saturnian moon. May harbor organic compounds similar to those predating life on Earth. Temperature is minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • CASSINI ORBITER: Launched October 15, 1997. Spacecraft is 22 feet long and weighs 12,593 pounds (5,667 kg). Runs on nuclear power. Will orbit Saturn 76 times over four years.

  • HUYGENS PROBE: Spacecraft is 8.9 feet in diameter and 705 pounds (317 kg). Will be released from Cassini on December 24 and enter Titan's atmosphere on January 14.

  • MISSION COST: $3.3 billion, shared by NASA, ESA, Italian Space Agency.
  • (CNN) -- Scientists in the United States and Europe may get what they want for Christmas if the Huygens probe successfully separates from the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn on Christmas Eve.

    Huygens, a 703-pound probe designed by the European Space Agency, is heading for a crash landing on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in January. It is expected to be ejected from the Cassini spacecraft around 10 p.m. ET on December 24.

    The $600 million probe will pierce the mysterious moon's thick veil of orange haze to study an atmosphere that scientists believe resembles our own as it was 3.8 billion years ago. They hope Titan can reveal how primordial life began on Earth.

    NASA scientists and engineers will congregate around consoles at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California on Christmas Eve to await word from the probe. Huygens has traveled on the belly of Cassini throughout its seven-year journey to Saturn. The pair entered Saturn's orbit on July 1, 2004.

    Huygens will be in the hands of the European Space Agency throughout its 22-day coast toward Titan. The Volkswagen-Beetle-sized craft will enter Titan's thick atmosphere on January 14 deploying three sets of parachutes to slow down and take scientific measurements. Although it will take about two and half hours to reach the surface, no one knows what is waiting for it on the frozen moon.

    "The landing site seems to be on, for lack of a better word, shoreline," said Kevin Grazier, planetary scientist and Cassini science investigator. "It seems to be on the solid ground at a topographic high. It looks like Huygens will land, instead of splashdown or slush down if you will."

    Scientists know that the air on Titan, the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere, is composed primarily of nitrogen and methane. Surface temperatures can reach - 294 F (-181 C). It is not clear how much of the surface area is solid rock, liquid or chemical slush.

    Candy Hansen, a NASA expert on Titan, said the moon is certain to be cold and inhospitable, even for machines.

    "I'd wear my very warmest boots," she said. "I expect it would come across as a very cold, blustery place, but with this sort of eerie beauty of Saturn in the sky."

    Regardless of the conditions, Huygens has just three hours of battery life to reveal Titan's secrets; its descent taking up most of the probe's lifespan. Engineers believe Huygens will have just 30 minutes on the surface of Titan to take pictures and measurements before it loses contact with Earth. Huygens will collect aerosols from the air, measure wind speeds and study the physical and electrical properties of the atmosphere.

    The Cassini spacecraft has been crowned a major success sending back groundbreaking images of Saturn's rings and the gas giant itself. It is also taking the most detailed pictures ever of Saturn's 33 moons, including Titan.

    European Space Agency's scientists are hoping their $600 million probe will have more success than ESA's Mars Beagle which plowed into Mars surface never to be heard from again last year.


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