Huygens probe lands on Titan

In 2005, the Huygens space probe landed on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. It had been released from the Cassini spacecraft when its orbit around Saturn converged with the path of Titan on December 24th 2004. In the first three photographs received from Huygens on the surface of Titan, scientists saw what resembled drainage channels, a shoreline, flooded regions surrounded by elevated terrain and a plain covered with large boulders, possibly of ice. The probe was named after Christian Huygens, the Dutch astronomer who first viewed Titan on March 25th, 1655, the first of Saturn's moon to be discovered.

Books in our collection

 Cassini at Saturn: Huygens results  by David Harland

Mission to Saturn: Cassini and the Huygens probe  by David Harland

Planetary landers and entry probes  by Andrew Ball et al