# Cassini lands on Titan Friday **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253 "2005-01-11T19:05:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/41 "2005-01-14T19:39:44Z")
> [@clayton\_e](#): > > A couple of questions about the single camera aboard: > > - Is it able to rotate? It would kinda suck if the surface is rocky and it landed right in front of a boulder. And since direct control from earth is not possible due to the time it would take to send commands (and therefore is automatic) is the camera set up to take a photo, turn, then take another, then turn? The important photographs will be from the descent, not from the surface. The probe was given a rotation when it separated from Cassini, for stability (so it wouldn’t tumble), which means that on its descent through the atmosphere it will have been continuing to slowly turn about. The photographs that will have been taken on the way down will be panoramas (!), i.e., shoot in each of ten or twelve directions on a rotation and assemble the separate shots into an all-the-way-around view. The mission plan was to shoot a number of these while drifting down to the surface, with (IIRC) an increase in shots during the final stage to get a sense of the landscape. The probe itself is small enough that once it lands, it isn’t going to have much of a view of the surrounding area. The wide-field photography will be the good stuff. > [@](#): > > _- Why are they saying the camera is going to send the first b/w photos soon with color photos to come later (that is, if I read the description of the camera correctly) if there is only one camera? I’m quite ignorant on the technical stuff, is it able to take smaller kb b/w photos first in case it fails after only a few minutes then go with color when it has time later?_ Something like that. The B&W can be transmitted more quickly, so they know things are working; the color elements will take longer to transmit. > [@](#): > > _- Will they release photos immedietly? I’m sure there must be some form of editing/splicing necessary, but would they release raw images right away?_ Dunno. I had NASA-TV streaming on my desktop, but it looks like they’re having traffic problems. I’ll see if I can get it back up. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/42 "2005-01-14T19:50:06Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > The wide-field photography will be the good stuff. Actually, let me clarify: The wide-field photography will be the highlight of the imaging. (A light will have been turned on in the last few hundred meters to help.) The _really_ good stuff will be returned by the “spear” on the bottom of the probe, which will have penetrated the surface to permit deeper chemical analysis of whatever it was they landed on. [Details on Huygens’s instrument package are here](http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=31193&fbodylongid=740). Okay, the streaming feed just returned. Images starting to come in. Clicking submit and going to watch. (By the way, those shots of cheering space engineers that accompany significant successes might just be my favorite thing in the world.) ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/43 "2005-01-14T19:52:28Z")
Wow- just saw the first picture. Possibly drainage ditches and a shoreline. Absolutely amazing. This is me → 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/44 "2005-01-14T19:57:25Z")
Preliminary indications are that this mission is a smashing success. This is going to make up in a big way for the significant disappointment of the ESA’s Beagle vehicle on Mars. I’m actually a little choked up here. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/45 "2005-01-14T19:59:23Z")
On second thought, maybe “smashing” success is the wrong choice of words… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/46 "2005-01-14T20:00:01Z")
So who has images? I’ve got four or five tabs open right now of the various sites (ESA, JPL) and don’t see anything. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/47 "2005-01-14T20:03:11Z")
> [@clayton\_e](#): > > - Why are they saying the camera is going to send the first b/w photos soon with color photos to come later (that is, _if_ I read the description of the camera correctly) if there is only one camera? The camera takes B&W photos but there’s a spectrometer on board that can be used to fill in the color. I wish I hadn’t lost the cite that information came from, because it showed some really neat pictures taken here on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/48 "2005-01-14T20:06:57Z")
CNN has one. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/49 "2005-01-14T20:11:06Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I’m actually a little choked up here. You’re not the only one. 🙂 My uncle in England said he is watching video from the probe on the BBC, right now. Does anyone know when it will be getting to me? I only have a 56k modem and four TV channels. ☹ :: paces expectantly :: ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/50 "2005-01-14T20:18:34Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > So who has images? I’ve got four or five tabs open right now of the various sites (ESA, JPL) and don’t see anything. ESA site just posted something. Looks sort of like the Spirit site on Mars. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/51 "2005-01-14T20:22:02Z")
[Aha!](http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/index.html) Picture number one (if you don’t count the “unofficial” pic over on CNN). ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/52 "2005-01-14T20:22:38Z")
I’ve got nothing productive to add except “whoopee!” I remember being a kid staying up after my bedtime watching the Voyager images from Saturn come down a line at a time on PBS. Today, I’m in front of a broadband internet connection dodging my employer, but the feeling is the same! Well, almost the same. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/53 "2005-01-14T21:12:15Z")
Someone on the SA forums remarked that Huygens has apparently landed on Victor Yushchenko’s face. But seriously, this kicks ass. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/54 "2005-01-14T21:18:55Z")
From the description of what is right now the third image down on the [ESA site](http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/index.html): > [@](#): > > It shows what could be the landing site, with shorelines and boundaries between raised ground and flooded plains. Shorelines and flooded plains. Oh. Your. God. This is so cool. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/55 "2005-01-14T21:20:40Z")
And they’re apparently seas of liquid natural gas (methane)? If we can get the oil industry behind this, we’ll have a kickass space program in no time! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/56 "2005-01-14T21:24:54Z")
Er, make that _manned_ space program, explorers and such… Incidentally, this explains why the lubrication-less Martians in the American Petroleum Institute’s 1956 promotional film [Destination Earth](http://www.archive.org/movies/details-db.php?collection=prelinger&collectionid=10569&from=pickList) never actually explored Earth in reality. They were getting their greasy goo from Titan… ---
**Author:** ![ForgottenLore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@ForgottenLore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForgottenLore)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/57 "2005-01-14T21:36:35Z")
I’ve had the nasa channel on in the background all day. saw the first image there when they released it. Unbelievable! A shoreline! Drainage channels! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/58 "2005-01-14T22:21:25Z")
For anyone with extended cable, The Science Channel (from Discovery) is going to do an hour-long special tonight on the landing. Live, even. 9pm East Coast, 6pm West Coast. [More info](http://science.discovery.com/convergence/cassini/cassini.html). This is actually what prompted my earlier comment about the apparent lack of general public interest. If I were Emperor of the World, this wouldn’t just be way out at the end of the cable guide on The Science Channel. It’d be like on a network, or better yet all of them. 😉 More seriously, it would be on Discovery proper, not on their less-watched sister channel. I can’t be too bitter, though, because _this is just so freakin’ cool._ ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/59 "2005-01-14T22:35:13Z")
Update - found the [cite](http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~kholso/test_images.htm) in re the colorization of the pictures! Someone over at the Bad Astronomy board posted a link to the page, which explains the use of the spectrometer and includes sample images. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253/60 "2005-01-14T22:47:06Z")
What about the mic? I wanna hear some Titanian going: :::tap::: :::tap::: :::tap::: Is this thing on? :::tap::: :::tap::: :::tap::: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassini-lands-on-titan-friday/284253.md?page=4)