BBC Horizon program, “Titan – A Place Like Home?” The largest moon of Saturn, Titan remained largely unknown due to its heavy cloud cover. Cassini-Huygens spacecraft launched in 1997, entered orbit around Saturn by 2004. “It [Huygens] reached Saturn’s moon Titan on January 14, 2005, when it entered Titan’s atmosphere and descended to the surface. It successfully returned data to Earth, using the orbiter as a relay. This was the first landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System.” The documentary discusses flybys necessary to hurl craft into outer solar system. Also, steps taken to land Huygens on Titan’s surface and then return data via relay first to Cassini, are definite highlights – very interesting! Scientists believe ” …in many respects Titan is driven by exactly the same geological and
meteorological processes that shape and contour our own planet. Titan is
certainly a place like home.”
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