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Yang Liwei Rocket

Member

Registered: 2004-03-03

Posts: 993

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

the surface of Titan is very nice   

http://www.thespacesite.com/community/u … 734964.jpg

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'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

*Yes, YL Rocket!  So beautiful.  :*) 

And how exciting to see this space history unfolding before our eyes.  I'm so pumped I've got a nose bleed!  :laugh:  :laugh:

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

thrawn20

Member

From: Steveunionrepwi@hotmail.com

Registered: 2004-12-26

Posts: 11

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

Get your raw images here
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~kholso/jpeg … olso/jpeg/

Courtesy of me

thrawn20

Member

From: Steveunionrepwi@hotmail.com

Registered: 2004-12-26

Posts: 11

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

thrawn20

Member

From: Steveunionrepwi@hotmail.com

Registered: 2004-12-26

Posts: 11

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

C M Edwards

Member

From: Lake Charles LA USA

Registered: 2002-04-29

Posts: 1,012

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

It sure looks like shoreline.  I think I can make out barrier islands in that initial photograph.  That implies wave action. 

However, the pattern of channels in that apparent delta is a little... odd.  It's within the realm of possibility that we may not be looking at an active river system in that first photo.  (I hope so, though.)

Those smoothly rounded surface rocks definitely suggest a river somewhere.  Where?

Does anyone have an estimate for how far away the probe actually landed from that delta formation in the first released photograph?

Gee.  Rivers on Titan.  Delta country on Titan.  SEAS ON TITAN! 

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"We go big, or we don't go."  - GCNRevenger

thrawn20

Member

From: Steveunionrepwi@hotmail.com

Registered: 2004-12-26

Posts: 11

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

Ya those delta's were definately done by liquid for sure.

But what? And is it still there? Raw images dont tell much...they have to be put through the software.

We will have to wait

C M Edwards

Member

From: Lake Charles LA USA

Registered: 2002-04-29

Posts: 1,012

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

What the -

Surely those are not craters in the middle of the sea!

Get those out of there!  How dare reality interfere with my theory!   :laugh:

(I can wait to see the processed images!  Titan looks very geologically complex.)

PS: Judging from the fact that they're apparently the same shape at all angles even though the _terrain_ doesn't seem to be, my "craters" might be raindrops on the lens or some other artifact.

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"We go big, or we don't go."  - GCNRevenger

thrawn20

Member

From: Steveunionrepwi@hotmail.com

Registered: 2004-12-26

Posts: 11

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

The pictures of the surface show sunken rocks and puddles of goop!

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

*Thank you, thrawn20, for sharing those pics with us.    I saw them an hour ago, but now they're not showing up on my screen (probably is my computer, but thought I'd mention it).

Mondo]http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cassini_huygens/huygens_land/landing_02_H.jpg]"Mondo - Bizarro" 

This is one of the first raw images returned by the ESA Huygens probe during its successful descent.It was taken at an altitude of 8 kilometres with a resolution of 20 metres per pixel. It shows what could be the landing site, with shorelines and boundaries between raised ground and flooded plains.

Wild.  :-\ 

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

Marvelous stuff!

Big thumbs up for this better than wildest expectations working of the probe, it kep sending data waaaay beyond he most optimistic predictions, yay!

Anothe milestone, for sure. Humanity has landed (albeit by proxy,) on yet another alien shore again!

wowowowowowowowowow....

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

Marvelous stuff!

Big thumbs up for this better than wildest expectations working of the probe, it kep sending data waaaay beyond he most optimistic predictions, yay!

Anothe milestone, for sure. Humanity has landed (albeit by proxy,) on yet another alien shore again!

wowowowowowowowowow....

*Yep!  And congratulations ESA! 

They're calling the "rocks" in http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/0 … .html]that one photo  ice blocks.  And no more pics to be released on today's date apparently, though another report is due to be released at 5:00 a.m. EST tomorrow. 

That photo will go into my dreams with me tonight.  It's so easy to relate to; can imagine the feeling of fluid (if indeed that's fluid) lapping at my ankles and picking my way around the ice blocks while feeling sandy material between my toes...yes, I do remember it's COLD there among other things, LOL...but our imaginations can take us there. 

By the way, Carolyn Porco was interviewed on CNN.  She and her colleagues were especially taken by that photo as well; in fact, initially it came to her and others' minds that someone might be pulling a gag -- because the scene reminded them initially of boulder-strewn Mars.   

Anyway, that first photo ON Titan should make the front cover of Time magazine, IMO.

Last but not least:  I heard something about a video of the actual descent being patched together -- I sure hope we can all view it online, if it's done! 

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Yang Liwei Rocket

Member

Registered: 2004-03-03

Posts: 993

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

:up:  One of the best missions Ever !!

 

great joint partnership
I see Ocean features, a river and shorlines on alien Titan
:band:
click on the full-size view image

http://whodatzone.com/forum/index.php?a … ...&id=714

http://www.theoracleproject.blogspot.co … gspot.com/

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~rwald/pano5 … odupes.jpg

wonder what caused this strange formation on Titan :hm:

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'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )

Shaun Barrett

Member

From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Registered: 2001-12-28

Posts: 2,843

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

So far, so good!
    Can't wait for more.   :up:

    The lower portion of this composite shows another view what can only be a collection of 'river' channels emptying into a lake or sea:-
                     

   Amazing stuff!!   

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The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down.   - Rita Rudner

alan

Member

From: Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Registered: 2004-12-09

Posts: 18

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

The raw images are no longer available at the Arizona site.  A mirror was set up here
http://homepage.mac.com/lyford/j/raw/_. … w/_._.html

Yang Liwei Rocket

Member

Registered: 2004-03-03

Posts: 993

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

The sounds of Titan, other readings and Colours of the surface should be out soon

  It's great 

But Jeffrey F. Bell is very unhappy again !!  :rant:  he doesn't like this mission

After years of visiting Europe and talking to friends from there, I finally got it through my thick skinned head that most European nations are still mired in pre-Enlightenment thinking, even after 200 years of bloody revolutions.
They may superficially look like modern liberal states, but the old habits can still be found if you scrape off the camouflage. The people in charge no longer wear plate armour and mostly don't inherit their jobs, but they are still aristocrats at heart. The common man still doesn't count for much (even if he has a Ph.D).....

It was a sorry spectacle - probably the worst PR disaster in the entire history of space travel......

why is Jeff Bell so unhappy ?

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'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )

Yang Liwei Rocket

Member

Registered: 2004-03-03

Posts: 993

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

The raw images are no longer available at the Arizona site.  A mirror was set up here
http://homepage.mac.com/lyford/j/raw/_. … w/_._.html

  Check this stuff out 

http://www.esa.int/images/Picture7_L.jp … ure7_L.jpg

QUOTE 
This image was returned yesterday, 14 January 2005, by ESA's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. This is the coloured view, following processing to add reflection spectra data, gives a better indication of the actual colour of the surface. Initially thought to be rocks or ice blocks, they are more pebble-sized. The two rock-like objects just below the middle of the image are about 15 centimetres (left) and 4 centimetres (centre) across respectively, at a distance of about 85 centimetres from Huygens. The surface is darker than originally expected, consisting of a mixture of water and hydrocarbon ice. There is also evidence of erosion at the base of these objects, indicating possible fluvial activity.

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/cas … ...re3.jpg

This composite was produced from images returned yesterday, 14 January 2005, by ESA's Huygens probe during its successful descent to land on Titan. It shows a full 360-degree view around Huygens. The left-hand side, behind Huygens, shows a boundary between light and dark areas. The white streaks seen near this boundary could be ground 'fog', as they were not immediately visible from higher altitudes. As the probe descended, it drifted over a plateau (centre of image) and was heading towards its landing site in a dark area (right). From the drift of the probe, the wind speed has been estimated at around 6-7 kilometres per hour. These images were taken from an altitude of about 8 kilometres and a resolution of about 20 metres per pixel.

Sounds Titan

http://www.planetary.org/news/2005/soun … _0115.html

:band:

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'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

*Thanks YL Rocket for those links, and Shaun for the pics.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huy … .html]Nice top photo!  It's a bit clearer too, IMO.

And so nice to see color in the ice-block photo. 

The 2nd image in my link shows scale captions -- gives us a better idea of perception.

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

chat

Member

From: Ontario Canada

Registered: 2003-10-23

Posts: 371

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

ecrasez_l_infame,

I have to agree 100% about it being a liquid on the surface pictures.

To me it looks like a fluid slowly flowing around rocks that have ice on them.
If you look carefully at that picture you will notice where the refraction line from the fluid ends, a distinct line of frost or ice appears to be above the fluid on all the rocks.

Titan in the pictures appears exactly as i had pictured it in my mind, and all that fluid answers why the atmosphere is the way it is. (bring an umbrella when strolling on the beach)

It wouldn't shock me at all to see some form of life in the oceans and ponds and rivers on titan.
Liquid, a hydro cycle and billions of years might equal some form of life.
Sure its mighty cold on titan, but not vastly colder than the south pole on earth where life exists in any place it can.

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The universe isn't being pushed apart faster.
It is being pulled faster towards the clumpy edge.

Yang Liwei Rocket

Member

Registered: 2004-03-03

Posts: 993

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

ecrasez_l_infame,

I have to agree 100% about it being a liquid on the surface pictures.

To me it looks like a fluid slowly flowing around rocks that have ice on them.
If you look carefully at that picture you will notice where the refraction line from the fluid ends, a distinct line of frost or ice appears to be above the fluid on all the rocks.

Titan in the pictures appears exactly as i had pictured it in my mind, and all that fluid answers why the atmosphere is the way it is. (bring an umbrella when strolling on the beach)

It wouldn't shock me at all to see some form of life in the oceans and ponds and rivers on titan.
Liquid, a hydro cycle and billions of years might equal some form of life.
Sure its mighty cold on titan, but not vastly colder than the south pole on earth where life exists in any place it can.

its a really fantastic mission well done to the NASA and ESA people
there are also many pics people have on the web

http://www.lyle.org/~markoff/huygens/sh … medres.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/262/2670 … Titan1.jpg

http://anthony.liekens.net/titan/points … osaics.jpg

http://anthony.liekens.net/titan/6combi … mbined.png

Here are the sounds of it flying down through the atmosphere and going down into the clouds

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia … ...ent.mp3

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'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

Here are the sounds of it flying down through the atmosphere and going down into the clouds

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/multimedia … ...ent.mp3

Chat:  It wouldn't shock me at all to see some form of life in the oceans and ponds and rivers on titan.
Liquid, a hydro cycle and billions of years might equal some form of life.
Sure its mighty cold on titan, but not vastly colder than the south pole on earth where life exists in any place it can.

*Hi Chat!  :up: 

YL Rocket, those sounds are great.  Thanks for posting the link -- it easily downloaded.  I couldn't wait for it to entirely download, though, before starting to listen; as soon as it was 38% complete I hit the Play button.  :laugh:

--Cindy

::EDIT::  You can listen to http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huy … tml]*radar echoes/conversion* here (2nd item).  Wow, it sounds like a hot rod revving up, like for the Indy 500!  Geez!!!  :laugh:  :band:

This recording was produced by converting into audible sounds some of the radar echoes received by Huygens during the last few kilometres of its descent onto Titan. As the probe approaches the ground, both the pitch and intensity increase. Scientists will use intensity of the echoes to speculate about the nature of the surface.

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/hu … unications glitch

"It was an ESA responsibility," ESA Science Director said at Huygens mission control here. "We should have redundancy at all levels [of the mission], including the ability to send commands."

The communications failure occurred on Cassini, not Huygens, and was caused by an error "as simple as throwing a switch to, 'On.' We did not set the Cassini software to 'On' and it's our fault," said Jacques Louet, head of science projects at ESA. "Space does not forgive stupid mistakes, and we made a stupid mistake. I take full responsibility."

Louet said a Huygens Mission Operations Plan sent by ESA to Cassini managers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory contained improperly written and confusing information. "JPL executed the instructions we gave them," Louet said. "One lesson we hopefully will draw from this is that you need independent reviews of all systems. It's a classic example of the most-simple things escaping review because they are simple."

*I certainly commend them for not attempting to pass the buck. 

Mr. Martin Tomasko apparently hasn't slept in 30 hours.  Can't blame him.  :up:

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Cobra Commander

Member

From: The outskirts of Detroit.

Registered: 2002-04-09

Posts: 3,039

Re: Cassini-Huygens *2* - ...more Saturn/Titan...

To avoid another crashed thread this one is hereby locked.

Continue in Cassini-Huygens III

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.