Huygens images show hints of flowing liquid
Posted: Sun, Jan 16, 2005, 10:09 AM ET (1509 GMT)
Images and other data returned by ESA's Huygens probe show features suggesting of flowing liquid on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. Huygens images released Saturday showed features that scientists said could be drainage channels and possibly a shoreline of lake. They cautioned, however, that a dark area that appeared to be a lake could instead be a hydrocarbon slush. The surface where Huygens landed appeared to be soft, with the probe penetrating about 15 centimeters into the surface before coming to rest. Project officials confirmed that one of two channels of data from Huygens were lost because controllers failed to properly configure the Cassini orbiter to record and relay those data. Most of the data was also transmitted on the other channel, but some images and all of the data from a wind experiment were lost. The wind data may be reconstructed, however, by radio telescopes on Earth that monitored Huygens' transmissions.
Images and other data returned by ESA's Huygens probe show features suggesting of flowing liquid on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. Huygens images released Saturday showed features that scientists said could be drainage channels and possibly a shoreline of lake. They cautioned, however, that a dark area that appeared to be a lake could instead be a hydrocarbon slush. The surface where Huygens landed appeared to be soft, with the probe penetrating about 15 centimeters into the surface before coming to rest. Project officials confirmed that one of two channels of data from Huygens were lost because controllers failed to properly configure the Cassini orbiter to record and relay those data. Most of the data was also transmitted on the other channel, but some images and all of the data from a wind experiment were lost. The wind data may be reconstructed, however, by radio telescopes on Earth that monitored Huygens' transmissions.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, May 16
XCOR Aerospace Announces Lynx Suborbital Flight Winner
XCOR Aerospace — 12:52 pm ET (1652 GMT) Mojave Spaceport Hires Lobbyist as Prospects for Limited Liability Bill Brighten
Parabolic Arc — 12:51 pm ET (1651 GMT) JPL Invites all Earthlings to Annual Open House
NASA/JPL — 12:50 pm ET (1650 GMT) Ball Aerospace Submits Solar Electric Propulsion Concept to NASA
PR Newswire — 12:49 pm ET (1649 GMT) New welding technique pioneered by NASA brings hundreds of experts to Huntsville
Huntsville Times — 12:48 pm ET (1648 GMT) |