Huygens (spacecraft)

Huygens was a space probe that landed on Titan, a moon of Saturn, in 2005. It was launched with the Cassini probe in 1997. The probe was named after Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch astronomer who discovered Titan. Huygens was the first probe to land on Titan and the farthest place a probe has ever landed.

 Overview 
 Construction 
Huygens was built by Aérospatiale in France, now part of Thales Alenia Space. The heat shield was made near Bordeaux by Aérospatiale, now part of Airbus Defence and Space. Martin-Baker Space Systems made the parachute systems and other parts to help it land. IRVIN-GQ designed the parachutes and worked on the landing system with Martin-Baker.

 In space 
On October 15, 1997, the Cassini spacecraft was launched. The Huygens probe was attached to it. On December 25, 2004, the Huygens probe left Cassini and traveled to Titan. 

On January 14, 2005, the Huygens probe landed on Titan. It bounced and slid to a stop, finding pebbles made of water ice on an orange surface with methane haze. Huygens' pictures showed rivers of liquid methane, drainage channels, and dry lakebeds, which means there was recent liquid activity. While no permanent lakes were found at the landing site, later data from the Cassini mission showed lakes in Titan's polar regions.

Huygens found the surface to be like damp sand made of ice grains, with rounded rocks and pebbles indicating fluid action. The temperature was very cold at , with methane making up 5% of the atmosphere. The light on Titan was much dimmer than on Earth, with an orange sky due to Titan's haze. After 90 minutes, Huygens stopped sending data, even though it was designed to last longer.

Landing site of the Huygens probe:

 References 

Category:Spacecraft launched in the 1990s
Category:2005