Splashing down on Titan's oceans   This narrow angle field-of-view artist's rendering shows Titan's surface with Saturn dimly in the background through Titan's thick atmosphere of methane, ethane and (mostly) nitrogen. The Cassini spacecraft flys over the surface with its high-gain antenna pointed at the Huygens probe as it reaches the surface. Thin methane clouds dot the horizon, and a narrow methane spring or 'methanefall' flows from the cliff at left and drifts mostly into vapour. Smooth ice features rise out of the methane/ethane lake, and crater walls can be seen far in the distance.   Cassini/Huygens is an ESA/NASA mission to the Saturnian system. Carried on NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter, ESA's Huygens probe will explore the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. A few months after going into orbit around Saturn, Cassini will release Huygens for its entry and descent through Titan's atmosphere to the surface. Cassini will go on to make many close fly-bys to continue the global exploration of Titan during its nominal four-year mission.   This artist's concept of the Cassini-Huygens orbiter shows the Huygens probe separating to enter Titan's atmosphere. After separation, the probe drifts for about three weeks until reaching its destination, Titan. Equipped with a variety of scientific sensors, the Huygens probe will spend 2-2.5 hours descending through Titan's dense, murky atmosphere of nitrogen and carbon-based molecules, beaming its findings to the distant Cassini orbiter overhead. The probe could continue to relay information for up to 30 minutes after it lands on Titan's frigid surface, after which the orbiter passes beneath the horizon as seen from the probe.