Huygens Descending on Main Chute

by | Jan 14, 2005 | Outer Solar System

The Green Bank radio telescope in West Virginia has picked up the Huygens carrier signal, which should have been activated after the opening of the main chute and the dropping of the heat shield. The signal carries no data other than this: Huygens made it through the entry into Titan’s atmosphere. We should have data available by 1310 EST, routed from Huygens through Cassini. From an ESA press release:

What the Green Bank radio telescope has detected is only a ‘carrier’ signal. It indicates that the back cover of Huygens must have been ejected, the main parachute must have been deployed and that the probe has begun to transmit, in other words, the probe is ‘alive’. This, however, still does not mean that any data have been acquired, nor that they have been received by Cassini. The carrier signal is sent continuously throughout the descent and as such does not contain any scientific data. It is similar to the tone signal heard in a telephone handset once the latter is picked up.

Says Project Scientist Jean-Perre Lebreton, “It looks like we heard the baby crying.”

Update: ESA now reporting data as well as the carrier signal.

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In Centauri Dreams, Paul Gilster looks at peer-reviewed research on deep space exploration, with an eye toward interstellar possibilities. For many years this site coordinated its efforts with the Tau Zero Foundation. It now serves as an independent forum for deep space news and ideas. In the logo above, the leftmost star is Alpha Centauri, a triple system closer than any other star, and a primary target for early interstellar probes. To its right is Beta Centauri (not a part of the Alpha Centauri system), with Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon Crucis, stars in the Southern Cross, visible at the far right (image courtesy of Marco Lorenzi).

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