[img]http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/moons/images/PIA07232-br500.jpg[/img]
First Color View of Titan's Surface
January 15, 2005
This image was returned yesterday, January 14, 2005, by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. This is the colored view, following processing to add reflection spectra data, and gives a better indication of the actual color of the surface.
Initially thought to be rocks or ice blocks, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) (left) and 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches) (center) across respectively, at a distance of about 85 centimeters (about 33 inches) from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected, consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible fluvial activity. The image was taken with the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, one of two NASA instruments on the probe.
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 Cassini-Huygens 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. The Descent Imager/Spectral team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm .
Credit: ESA/NASA/Univ. of Arizona
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[img]http://www.esa.int/images/Picture3_XL,0.jpg[/img]
[url=http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/Picture3.jpg:1ec87]HIGH RES PIC[/url:1ec87]
Composite of Titan's Surface Seen During Descent
January 15, 2005
This composite was produced from images returned yesterday, January 14, 2005, by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. It shows a full 360-degree view around Huygens. The left-hand side, behind Huygens, shows a boundary between light and dark areas. The white streaks seen near this boundary could be ground 'fog,' as they were not immediately visible from higher altitudes.
As the probe descended, it drifted over a plateau (center of image) and was heading towards its landing site in a dark area (right). From the drift of the probe, the wind speed has been estimated at around 6-7 kilometers (about 4 miles) per hour.
These images were taken from an altitude of about 8 kilometers ( about 5 miles) with a resolution of about 20 meters (about 65 feet) per pixel. The images were taken by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, one of two NASA instruments on the probe. 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 Cassini-Huygens 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. The Descent Imager/Spectral team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm .
Credit: ESA/NASA/Univ. of Arizona
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http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/v ... qthigh.mov
Huygens Descent into Another World
Martin Tomasko, principal investigator for the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer on the Huygens probe, describes some of the first images the probe beamed back from Titan on Jan. 14, 2005. This 2 minute, 30 second clip was taken from the European Space Agency's live coverage of Huygens historic descent to the surface of Titan.
Credit: European Space Agency
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Want to hear what Titan sounds like?
1. Speeding through Titan's haze
This recording is a laboratory reconstruction of the sounds heard by Huygens' microphones. Several sound samples, taken at different times during the descent, are here combined together and give a realistic reproduction of what a traveller on board Huygens would have heard during one minute of the descent through Titan's atmosphere.
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/huy ... escent.mp3
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2. Radar echos from Titan's surface
This recording was produced by converting into audible sounds some of the radar echoes received by Huygens during the last few kilometres of its descent onto Titan. As the probe approaches the ground, both the pitch and intensity increase. Scientists will use intensity of the echoes to speculate about the nature of the surface.
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/huy ... _radar.mp3
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[img]http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/Picture2.jpg[/img]
15 January 2005
This composite was produced from images returned yesterday, 14 January 2005, by ESA's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. It shows the boundary between the lighter-coloured uplifted terrain, marked with what appear to be drainage channels, and darker lower areas. These images were taken from an altitude of about 8 kilometres with a resolution of about 20 metres per pixel.
Credits: ESA/NASA/University of Arizona
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[img]http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/Picture6.png[/img]
15 January 2005
This raw image was returned yesterday, 14 January 2005, by ESA's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. Sizes have been added to indicate scale of these features. Initially thought to be rocks or ice blocks, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimetres (left) and 4 centimetres (centre) across respectively, at a distance of about 85 centimetres from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected, consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible fluvial activity.
Credits: ESA/NASA/University of Arizona
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01-14-2005, 07:48 PM
Linear Mode
