Wednesday 7 December 2005

Probe lands on Titan

News just in of the information gathered from the Cassini/Huygens probe's landing on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. [Hat tip Stephen Hicks]

The Cassini/Huygens mission is a magnificent achievement with potentially huge scientific spin-offs -- ballistically it would be like trying to land a model plane on top of a small insect that is presently sitting on the other side of the world, and then sending back data and photos of the experience. (That's one photo, right, of Saturn and two -- yes, two -- of her moons, taken from the Cassini space-craft.) And now the information is being processed...

Read here about the description and achievements of the project I attended earlier this year given by Bob Mitchell, head of the Cassini/Huygen mission, which also contains a libertarian meditation on space exploration.

[UPDATE: Post amended to fix my mistaken reporting. I should have just quoted Stephen Hicks: "The Huygens probe has landed on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and here are the latest reports."]

Linked Article: New View of Titan: Strong Winds, Soft Ground and Lightning
Linked Post:
Space: still the final frontier

3 comments:

T said...

http://worldofkane.blogspot.com/

sorry to move off topic for a moment...

Couldnt find an email link on your page

I thought you might find the above blog intresting. it on 1960's style and there is some really good architecture stuff at the bottom.

Peter Cresswell said...

" This is old news - like, nearly 12 months old."

Yeah, well done, Phil. My research department is failing me. :-)

The report is from 30 Nov, 2005: "Nearly a year after the probe landed on Saturn's largest moon, scientists are still poring over loads of data. Today, researchers released their newest findings in a series of seven reports published on line by the journal Nature."

What can I say but. "Duh!"

Peter Cresswell said...

"I thought you might find the above blog intresting. it on 1960's style and there is some really good architecture stuff at the bottom."

Interesting blog, thanks. Niemeyer's architecture is inhumanly awful, isn't it -- what I call neutron-bomb architecture - but the shots of Wright's Johnson Wax building (from 1936!) and Saarinen's TWA terminal are nice. And those thigh boots at the top of the page... :-)

BTW, you can email me at organon at ihug dot co dot nz if you want to send me stuff.