着陆土卫六: 惠更斯号的下降影片

着陆土卫六: 惠更斯号的下降影片

Titan Touchdown: Huygens Descent Movie
Video Credit: ESA, NASA, JPL, U. Arizona, E. Karkoschka

Explanation: What would it look like to land on Saturn’s moon Titan? The European Space Agency‘s Huygens probe set down on the Solar System’s cloudiest moon in 2005, and a time-lapse video of its descent images was created. Huygens separated from the robotic Cassini spacecraft soon after it achieved orbit around Saturn in late 2004 and began approaching Titan. For two hours after arriving, Huygens plummeted toward Titan‘s surface, recording at first only the shrouded moon’s opaque atmosphere. The computerized truck-tire sized probe soon deployed a parachute to slow its descent, pierced the thick clouds, and began transmitting images of a strange surface far below never before seen in visible light. Landing in a dried sea and surviving for 90 minutes, Huygen’s returned unique images of a strange plain of dark sandy soil strewn with smooth, bright, fist-sized rocks of ice.

Tomorrow’s picture: ATLAS tails

着陆土卫六: 惠更斯号的下降影片
影片提供: ESA, NASA, JPL, U. Arizona, E. Karkoschka

说明: 如果降落在土星的土卫六（泰坦）上，会看到什么景观？欧洲航天局（ESA）的惠更斯号探测器，于2005年成功降落在这颗太阳系具有最厚云层的卫星上，而这是它下降过程的缩时影片。在2004年底入轨土星后，惠更斯号很快的就和卡西尼号探测器分离，并往土卫六靠近。于抵达土卫六后，惠更斯号快速向土卫六的表面俯冲，但很快的就开展降落伞以减缓下降速度，在下降的开头2小时期间，所拍摄到的只是这颗卫星不透光的云层。不过，这部由电脑控制、大小如卡车轮胎的探测器，在穿透厚云后，就开始回传送先前在可见光波段前所未见的奇异表面影像。惠更斯号最后降落在干涸的海洋里，并在存活的90分钟期间，回传了许多独特的影像，其中包括由黑色沙土构成的奇特平原，其上散布着光滑明亮、拳头大小的冰块。

明日的图片: ATLAS tails

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