Huygens Images Titan s Surface
Explanation:
After a seven year interplanetary
voyage on board the
the Cassini spacecraft,
the European Space Agency's Huygens probe parachuted to
a historic landing on Saturn's
moon Titan on January 14.
Above are two of the
first raw images Huygens recorded of the
mystery moon's surface - a view from an altitude of
16 kilometers (left),
and
surface level.
The altitude image resolves features as small
as about 40 meters across while
in the dramatic surface level vista,
the sizes of the blocks, potentially ice boulders,
will be determined after further image processing.
Remarkably, the views of Titan's surface
suggest a similarity to eroded surfaces
on Earth and Mars.
News:
Huygens Updates
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
