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Episode 57: 15 October 2012 – Cassini Huygens Mission

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Launched 15 years ago today, the Cassini Huygens mission has been one of the outstanding successes of solar system exploration and a model of NASA ESA collaboration.

In episode 14 Professor John Zarnecki spoke about the science conducted from the surface of Titan by the Huygens lander in January 2005.

The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe had hitched a lift to Saturn aboard the Cassini orbiter. Six years after its arrival at Saturn, Cassini is still making spectacular discoveries about Saturn, its majestic rings and its many moons.

In this episode, Professor Carl Murray from Queen Mary University London talks about some of those discoveries and how the mission will eventually come to an end.

This interview was recorded during the National Astronomy Meeting in Manchester in March 2012.

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Episode14:Titan

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After a 7 year journey, Cassini/ Huygens arrived at Saturn in 2004 and Huygens landed on the surface of Titan on January 14th 2005. The only moon within the solar system known to have a substantial atmosphere.

On Monday 3rd of July 1989 it was possible to study the atmosphere of Titan from here on Earth when it occulted a 5.8mag star 28 Sagittarius. Ken Irving from Salford Astronomical Society describes the observation he made and video recording of the unexpected central flash. Available below.

Using data from the onboard Acoustic Sensor Unit, the Planetary Society compressed Huygens two and half hour descent into a 10 second audio clip.

After landing, Huygens continued to transmit data including those incredible pictures of the surface for another 70 minutes until the communication link to Earth – Cassini disappeared over the horizon. It would not come in range again for 40 days by when Huygens’ batteries were dead. There in its dark cold -180C deep freeze it remains. Probably intact. Professor John Zarnecki from the Open University who lead the Surface Science Package team talk a little about the achievements f the Cassini/Huygens mission.

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