FRASCATI - Le prime immagini e i primi dati inviati dalla sonda Huygens dopo l'atterraggio riuscito nel pomeriggio di venerdì su Titano, una luna di Saturno, sono ricchi di informazioni: nelle prime analisi appaiono un massiccio montuoso, percorso da una rete di fiumi con i loro affluenti.

Huygens could find a wondrous world. Cassini detected hints of geologic activity, possibly ice volcanoes. And there might by chemical lakes. A splash down is about as likely as a touch down for Huygens -- if it survives. Scientists also are intrigued by the methane in Titan's atmosphere. On Earth, methane is produced by living creatures.

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OK, what is it? Mostly liquid? Mostly solid? Swampy? In the genteel world of science, impatience is rising over the lack of revelatory images of the surface of Titan, a haze-shrouded world that might resemble what Earth was like billions of years ago.

The Cassini spacecraft has flown close to Saturn's largest moon twice since late October. But Cassini's attempts to peer through Titan's layers of haze have mostly produced images that look like dirty cotton candy.

"We're seeing light and dark areas, but we don't know what they are. It's frustrating," says Tobias Owen, a planetary scientist at the University of Hawaii.

The frustration might begin to ease Friday night.

Historic Event
Cassini will let go of Huygens, a hitchhiking probe that will coast to Titan and parachute through the moon's atmosphere on January 14 en route a historic landing. No other satellite has ever landed on a world so far from Earth.

Huygens (pronounced HOYgens) is only 4 feet in diameter. But the probe is loaded with sensors, a camera and a microphone that will continually collect data during the 2- to 2 1/2-hour atmospheric descent. The data will be sent to Cassini and relayed 750 million miles to Earth.

"Huygens is going to lift the veil on Titan, passing through the haze to see what lies beneath," says Claudio Sollazzo, a Huygens program mission manager for the European Space Agency, which built the probe.

Scientists are captivated with Titan because, "It is the only world in our solar system, other than Earth, where the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen," says Owen. "The expectation was, and is, that there should also be liquid hydrocarbons and the kind of atmospheric chemistry that produces ethane, a component of natural gas on Earth I hope we can get some insight intScientists also are intrigued by the methane in Titan's atmosphere. On Earth, methane is produced by living creatures -- which doesn't mean life exists on Titan.o how Earth's atmosphere evolved by studying Titan."

Scientists also are intrigued by the methane in Titan's atmosphere. On Earth, methane is produced by living creatures -- which doesn't mean life exists on Titan.

Frosty Conditions
"The temperatures there are very, very low," Owens says. "It's hard to see how there would be the (chemical) reactions that would lead to the molecular complexity needed for life. And there's no water vapor, a ready source of oxygen to make the biomolecules to produce life as we know it."

But Huygens could find a wondrous world. Cassini detected hints of geologic activity, possibly ice volcanoes. And there might by chemical lakes. A splash down is about as likely as a touch down for Huygens -- if it survives.

Says Sollazzo: "We've designed a probe for a hostile world where the temperature is minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit, the upper level winds blow 320 mph and the atmosphere is 98-percent nitrogen, enough to suffocate a person. It's a harsh place."

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/spce/cassini-huygens-titan-39223.html