Blog Archive

A change of plans for Cassini: higher altitude for the "T7" Titan flyby

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/07/15 01:00 CDT

The June 15 Cassini Project Update includes a note about a difficult decision -- they are raising the altitude of an upcoming Titan flyby, "T7," which is scheduled for September 7.

News: Dark Spot Near the South Pole: A Candidate Lake on Titan?

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/06/28 11:00 CDT

The Cassini imaging team has released an image containing a feature unlike any other that they have seen on Titan. The very dark color, curvaceous outline, and sharp edge of the feature have led them to the conclusion that it could well be the long-theorized but never-before-seen body of liquid hydrocarbons on the surface of Titan.

News: Radio Astronomers Rescue Science Results for Huygens' Doppler Wind Experiment

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/02/09 10:00 CST

Earth's radio astronomers have saved the day for one of the Huygens instrument teams. Today, the Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE) team announced their first science results, despite losing nearly all of their expected data.

Huygens blog: "A dance party to Titan."

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/01/15 09:56 CST

Huygens blog: "It's impossible to resist the speculation."

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/01/15 07:31 CST

After a mere twelve hours of work, all six of the science teams on Huygens were able to report results this morning. You could easily tell the difference between the administrators and the scientists on this morning's press panel: the administrators looked bright, fresh, and well-rested, while the scientists looked decidedly weary.

Huygens landing day live blog

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/01/14 04:10 CST

A frequently updated blog with the tumultuous events of Huygens' landing on Titan.

Huygens blog: "This is probably not the best day to speculate."

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/01/13 12:00 CST

Anticipation here at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is rising to a fever pitch. The full complement of more than a hundred scientists are here from all over Europe and the U.S.; they are running around, greeting each other, getting ready for the long-awaited data.

Huygens blog: It's going to be great!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2005/01/12 09:45 CST

In two days, it'll all be over; for better or worse, Huygens will have hit the ground on Titan, and back on Earth we'll be waiting to see whether the data will be returned. Today, I arrived at ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.