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Huygens Lands on Titan

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:35 pm
by McGruff
Pictures.

Isn't that amazing?

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 7:33 pm
by Bill H
Awesome. I have been following the whole Saturn expedition with my tounge hanging out. The rings are spellbinding. And this really caps it. Wow.

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 12:23 am
by JAM
Incredible.

I'm also amazed that they actually manage to do things like this. I mean, heres a brief cutout from the timeline:
October 15, 1997 -- Cassini-Huygens launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida
April 26, 1998 -- Cassini-Huygens flies by Venus, picking up a boost from the planet's gravity.
June 24, 1999 -- Cassini-Huygens flies by Venus again, getting another "gravity assist."
August 18, 1999 -- Cassini-Huygens gets a third celestial push when it flies by Earth.
...more...
Who or what decided to and why did they decide to fly-by Venus twice? I don't doubt that it was needed or a good thing, but the decision 'costed' a year. A year! :lol:

It's just hard to compute. The timespan must be frustrating. The project is 15 years old so I've heard, neverless since takeoff it's passed 8 years. Imagine you are one of the leaders of such project and you launch a rocket today. 8 years later friends, colleagues and family stands waiting eager and cheerful... and the thing explodes or stops responding...

I'd instantly jump out the window...

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 10:20 am
by timvw
because of gravitational forces between the capsule and venus -> they get acceleration (energy) for "free".

all they need then is the energy to change the path/direction of the capsule (and get out of the gravitational field of the object they are circling around)

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 3:25 pm
by JAM
Don't get me wrong, I do understand why. :wink: It's just that it's so big that it out of this world. Hmm... Touché.

I can't even imagine the amount of data the workers of Nasa/ESA need to plow through to actually make something out of it at all.
Did someone one day say "-Bob, why not slingshot twice instead of once, around Venus?" followed by nods and an optional cake that friday despite that eveyone (should eventually) know that the timeframe would skip at least one year?

My own decisions at work seems so very, very tiny in comparing. :lol:

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 4:46 pm
by timvw
yeah, i know that feeling.. (there is a movie where they start with a molecule and then they start zooming out.. sand .. people ... europe... earth... milky way...) rather depressing :p