The approach on Tuesday was at the shortest distance so far * A few days are needed to process all the data that came from the approach
One of the initial images that arrived from Titan on Tuesday, 26/10/04
The Cassini spacecraft has beamed spectacular images of Saturn's moon Titan back to Earth, giving scientists a closer look at the mysterious moon. The images, which are admittedly hazy but nevertheless reveal a little more detail, were captured by the deep space antenna near Madrid early Wednesday morning (03:25 Israel time).
The spacecraft came within 1,200 kilometers of the moon's surface, 300 times closer than the spacecraft's first flyby of Titan in July.
The first images were the clearest of the surface, and scientists expect better images to come.
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Attempts to observe Titan's icy surface have so far been frustrated by the orange haze that covers the entire surface of the moon. However, the scientists hoped that this time the flight would be close so that it would be possible to penetrate through the fog.
"This is history in the making. We will never be naive or ignorant. Within hours, the solar system will become a much smaller place." said Cassini Imaging Team Leader, Dr. Caroline Porco.
The Cassini team said that by the end of the week, researchers will be faced with mountains of data. Although the approach was made at 18:45 on Tuesday, the scientists at JPL in California had to wait another nine hours for the data.
"It's very exciting because Titan has such a thick atmosphere. It will be exciting to find out what's on the surface," said Cassini project manager Peter von Poon.
The scientists believe that Titan has oceans of methane and liquid methane above its icy surface. As mentioned later this year, the Huygens spacecraft will separate from Cassini and enter Titan's atmosphere. It will transmit data during its descent and perform scientific missions on the surface, if it survives.
However, Cassini's visit this week near Titan may answer some of the questions about this unexplored world. In particular, it may help resolve an ongoing debate about the nature of the glacial surface.
One theory says that the dark patches seen in the images represent solid land masses, while the lighter areas are oceans of liquid methane and methane.
To settle the debate, Cassini is using its cameras, a device called the Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (Vims), and its imaging radar to penetrate the thick fog. The spacecraft's cameras captured high-resolution images that will help map the Huygens landing site. The cameras took pictures of the approach once every 15 minutes. These images will be combined into a movie that may show the movement of clouds in Titan's atmosphere.
The Vims instrument will study the atmospheric phenomena and geological formations on Titan while the imaging radar, which has not been used to collect data on Titan until now, will build topographic maps. These instruments should help determine whether Huygens will land in a sea or a river of hydrocarbons, on an organic substrate or on solid ice. In addition, mass spectrometers will analyze the composition of the atmosphere during transit.
The conditions on Titan - which is the second largest moon in the solar system are considered to be similar to those that prevailed on Earth 4.6 billion years ago. Temperatures rarely rise above minus 179 degrees Celsius and the atmosphere mainly includes nitrogen and carbon based compounds.
Therefore, the mission scientists believe that the moon can teach us something about the conditions essential for the formation of life on our planet. "We have a primitive atmosphere that has been preserved for 4.6 billion years. "Titan gives us a chance for cosmic time travel," said Toby Evans, chief astronomer at JPL in Pasadena, California.
Cassini's flyby, one of 45 planned during its journey through the Saturn system, is expected to give us a taste of what Huygens will have in store when it enters Titan's atmosphere.
Cosmic spit distance from Titan
By John Noble Wilford New York Times
The Cassini spacecraft passed yesterday at a distance of only 1,200 km from Saturn's moon
Yesterday, the Cassini spacecraft came within 1,200 km of Titan, a planet-sized moon of Saturn. Titan, which until now has been an enigma shrouded in smog, has been described by one scientist as "the most extensive unexplored surface in the solar system."
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California cheered on Tuesday, with the arrival of the first radio signals that testified to the success of the "Cassini" imaging mission. Twenty minutes later, the first images of Titan appeared on video screens in the control room.
Some of the images showed sharp boundaries between light and dark areas on what appeared to be the surface of the moon. The scientists weren't sure if they were seeing ice-covered areas, lava plains, or something else entirely.
The first detailed exploration of Titan's surface is perhaps the most coveted goal of the $3.2 billion Cassini mission. The robotic spacecraft entered the coffee orbit around Saturn on June 30.
Titan's dimensions are larger than the planets Hema and Pluto, and among the moons it is second in size to Ganymede, the giant moon of Jupiter. The moon is freezing cold - 180 degrees below zero - but despite this there is chemical activity based on carbon, which creates the thick smog that covers it. This activity may provide insights into the conditions that contributed to the formation of life on Earth. "We don't expect to discover life - the moon is too cold - but we do hope to find chemical activity similar to that which prevailed on Earth," said Dr. Tobias Owen, a planetary researcher from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Titan is also fascinating because it is the only moon in the solar system that has an atmosphere, and the main component of this atmosphere is sodium, like on Earth. Owen said Titan may prove to be a natural laboratory for studying the origins of Earth's atmosphere.
In previous images of Titan - taken by the two Voyager spacecraft, which passed at a much greater distance from the Moon, and the Hubble Space Telescope - Titan looks like a fuzzy tennis ball, surrounded by pale yellow light. Cassini's first flyby of Titan, at a distance of 320 km, yielded little more than sightings of dark spots on the surface of the moon and puffy white methane clouds near its south pole.
Scientists expect much more detailed images from the latest flyby. From the relatively small distance between the spacecraft and the Moon, Cassini's cameras can penetrate through the haze and low clouds to photograph surface features. An imaging spectrometer in the infrared range is designed to study the moon's atmosphere and the products of the chemical reactions. And the radar system should, for the first time, map the topography of Titan.
Cassini will approach 1,200 km from the surface of Titan this evening
26.10.2004
By: Avi Blizovsky
The Cassini spacecraft is going to make the closest approach flight to the surface of Saturn's moon Titan this evening (Tuesday) at 18.44:1,200 p.m. Cassini will pass only XNUMX km from Titan's surface.
Attempts to land on Titan's icy surface have so far been frustrated by the thick orange haze that covers the moon's surface.
Scientists hope today's pass will be close enough for Cassini's radar to penetrate Titan's dense haze layer.
"Titan has a primitive atmosphere that has not changed for 4.6 billion years. Titan gives us the chance for cosmic time travel.” says Toby Evans, one of the researchers working on the Cassini project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
In December, the Huygens spacecraft, which is hitchhiking on Cassini, is supposed to be released from it and enter Titan's atmosphere in January 2005. The spacecraft is supposed to transmit data during its guided descent and perform science missions on the surface, if it survives
