Expert: Ed - 1/28/2005

Question
Hi Ed,

I recently heard about the landing of the Huygens probe of the Cassini Huygens mission, and I was wondering, what role exactly does the Cassini cpacecraft play in obtaining data from Huygens?
Thanks for your time!

-Rochelle

Answer
Rochelle,

Here are a few paragraphs taken directly from a NASA website.  I was going to put it into my own words, as I usually do, but I thought, hey, you would probably prefer the actual NASA version, verbatim.

On Dec. 24, 2004, pyros blasted and the umbilical cord was cut as Cassini ejected the Huygens probe, sending it on a collision course with Saturn's largest moon. The spacecraft then turned and snapped a parting shot of the spinning probe. Still dormant and without navigation capabilities, the probe will travel the last 4 million kilometers (almost 2.5 million miles) on its own. Timers on board will wake Huygens up just before it enters Titan's hazy atmosphere.

Three days after the jettison, Cassini tweaked its trajectory to position itself at the necessary angle to capture data from Huygens. As Huygens reaches its destination and the probe's heat shield slams into Titan's atmosphere, Cassini will be flying some 72,000 kilometers (about 44,700 miles) from it. The spacecraft will then begin recording data collected by the six instruments on board the probe.


As Huygens descends Titan's atmosphere, Cassini will record the data from 72,000 kilometers (about 44,700 miles).

By the time Huygens has opened all three of its parachutes and gently landed on Titan, about 2 1/2 hours later, Cassini will be at a distance of 60,000 kilometers (about 37,300 miles). If the probe survives the landing, it will continue to gather data for up to 30 minutes. Soon after that, the mother ship will be off sight from the probe and transmission will end. Cassini will then turn its antenna toward Earth and send the data home. The probe will collect up to 400 million bits (about 500 MB) of data. The information will include images and sounds.

I think that ought to answer your question.  If you'd like to check out the NASA website yourself, try clicking on this link:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features/feature20050107.cfm

Thanks for your cool question.  Keep Looking Up!
--Ed