Huygens...

[PMC]

Am waiting with baited breath...

The last news I've heard is that Huygens was confirmed as having descended into Titan's atmosphere.  It's shed it's heat shield and deployed it's parachute as a beacon signal has been transmitted to Cassini.

Touchdown should have occurred at 13:34(ish) GMT and any data would be relayed via Cassini.  At 14:44 GMT, Huygens will not longer be in contact with Cassini and will have completed it's mission.  At 15:14 GMT, Cassini will aim it's antenna at Earth and the first data should be transmitted...  (all above times factoring in the 67 minutes it takes for radio signal to reach Earth).  

The waiting continues...  Am actually very excited, I missed the moon landings by four and three quarter years, was two when Viking landed on Mars so this will be the first time I will see data coming in from an virgin world as it happens.  

[PMC]

Probably taking lots of close up shots of curious Titanians, scratching their heads and pointing upwards...?

Maybe it's bobbing about in an oily sea?

Could it even be sitting on a rocky outcrop taking breathtaking pics of a vivid orange sky with a faint view of Saturn setting on the horizon?

Or else it's being asked by Titanian Customs and Excise if it's got anything to declare?

[PMC]

Anyone see the Open Uni programme on Friday night?

(yes, instead of being out on the razz, I was in fact lying in bed watching a tv programme about a mission to Titan - a claim to geekdom?)

Someone suggested that below the crust of Titan is a salty ocean, and a geologically active core that could drive geothermal vents in very much the same way as seen in Earth's oceans and very possibly Europa's too.

Could a liquid, warm ocean fed by volcanic activity harbour life of some kind, a billion miles from here?

[PMC]

@Karlos,

Yeah, strange thought isn't it?  Titan's literally an inside-out world...  Who knows, maybe there's something living under the crust, gaining warmth and nutrition from geothermal vents (and possibly drilling upwards for hyrdrocarbons with which they power their SUVs?).

As for the lack of pics, my orginal guess was that Titan Customs and Excise have impounded the photos and won't release them until we stump up the Duty for them.  I'm sure ESA is negotiating as I type...

And they will be less than impressed at our attempts to smuggle bootleg CDs into Titan if they decide to disassemble Huygens...