Titan team claims just deserts as probe hits moon of creme brulee

摘要

Scientists were ecstatic last weekend as Titan, Saturn's largest moon, dramatically revealed itself to have the atmosphere-bearing, hydrocarbon-based landscape they had anticipated. But Huygens, the European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft that successfully parachuted through Titan's atmosphere on 14 January, has also revealed its share of surprises. The high-risk mission had functioned better than its designers had dared to expect — and they quickly reported that the moon looked even more interesting than they had hoped. The probe successfully transmitted data from its six instrument packages during a 2.5-hour descent through Titan's atmosphere, and for more than 70 minutes after it landed.