The Cassini-Huygen's Mission to Titan
On October 15, 1997, the robotic Cassini spacecraft began its lengthy flight, traveling to Saturn by way of Venus, Earth and Jupiter! The journey will take 7 years, reaching Saturn in 2004. ((Cassini arrival at Saturn) Cassini is nearly in range of Saturn: click HERE to see its current location. Cassini will make one sweep past Titan to make a radar map of Titan's surface. (Animation of radar mapping of Titan)
While the Cassini Orbiter continues to explore Saturn and its rings, the Huygens probe will be released (Release of Huygen's Probe from Cassini) to rendezvous with Titan. At the end of a 22-day cruise to Titan, the probe will plunge through the atmosphere at 20 000 km/h, taking from 2 - 2½ hours to reach Titan's surface. A heat shield protects it from temperatures of more than 12 000° and acts as a brake. As it slows to 1,400 km/h a series of parachutes will be deployed to provide a controlled descent and a stable platform for scientific measurements (Animation of Huygen Probe landing on Titan).
Huygens' six instruments will take measurements throughout its spectacular descent, providing details on the chemical composition of Titan's atmosphere, its weather and clouds, and then the surface itself. (Animation of Titan Surface) Spectacular data and images are already expected from the descent itself and, if the Huygens Probe survives the impact with the mysterious surface, it will continue to send unique information back to the mother ship until its batteries expire or the Cassini Orbiter is out of range.