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Kit Cybertech Extraordinaire~
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 3071 Location: Currently cyberwiring your mind
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Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 1:57 pm Post subject: Cassini and Huygens, outdoing expectations yet again |
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http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMQ1QQ3K3E_0.html
It's been over a year that the Martian rovers have been operational. They've found that there once was water on Mars. They've outlived how long they were expected to perform.
And again NASA, JPL, and ESA have outdone themselves and landed on Titan, a moon of Saturn. Titan is so amazing because of it's atmosphere and it's surface...because scientists think that the conditions on Titan are very much like the conditions Earth had before life emerged.
Cassini flew through Saturn's rings months ago, deployed the Huygens probe on Christmas...and last night, the probe spent 2 and a half hours gently falling to the ground. We've landed on another world, a world further from us then we've ever landed before, two times further from us then Jupiter is.
Huygens was suppose to last -- if it made it to the surface -- for two hours...and it's already lasted seven. More then that, it's batteries are at room temperature, meaning that Titan might be a LOT warmer then we thought it was because of it's atomosphere. Even more astonishing, Australia is picking up the Huygens' signal.
The most interesting thing is that Titan might harbor hydrocarbons or ammino acids....not life...but the building blocks of it. _________________ "I reject your reality and substitute my own!" -- Adam Savage
AIM: KitMurphyHR
Email: yojibalinese@hotmail.com
Technician Database: http://tech.haelrahv.net/ |
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HR-Trevor Boss Type Guy
Joined: 04 Oct 2002 Posts: 6683 Location: Louisville, KY
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Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:18 pm Post subject: |
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Huygens was suppose to last -- if it made it to the surface -- for two hours...and it's already lasted seven. |
What I've read says they predicted it to last just a few -minutes- once it landed, but it's far exceeded that.
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More then that, it's batteries are at room temperature, meaning that Titan might be a LOT warmer then we thought it was because of it's atomosphere. |
They had stated that Titan has an average temperature of -292 F, and winds as high as 311mph. It will be interesting to see how they alter these numbers after they analyze returning data. _________________ "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato
-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy |
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Kit Cybertech Extraordinaire~
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 3071 Location: Currently cyberwiring your mind
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Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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HR-Trevor wrote: |
It will be interesting to see how they alter these numbers after they analyze returning data. |
That's what makes space so fascinating...actually physically seeing things matched against predictions and having them be beyond expectations is enough to make my pulse quicken. It's like when they found the tiny moon Promethius sucking out material from the G ring of Saturn....it's so exciting! _________________ "I reject your reality and substitute my own!" -- Adam Savage
AIM: KitMurphyHR
Email: yojibalinese@hotmail.com
Technician Database: http://tech.haelrahv.net/ |
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SoulTorn Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
Joined: 20 Nov 2002 Posts: 685 Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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