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    ESA > Television > 2004 > 12 > Huygens Ready For the Final Plunge

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    Huygens Ready For the Final Plunge

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    • Video Online + Tape
    • Title Huygens Ready For the Final Plunge
    • Released: 14/12/2004
    • Length 00:04:10
    • Language English
    • Footage Type Documentary
    • Copyright ESA
    • Description

      Europe's Huygens probe has covered billions of kilometres, during a seven-year flight from Earth to Saturn. Now, the moment of the release of Huygens onto a trajectory to Titan is approaching, and scientists and engineers need maximum confidence in the readyness of the space probe for its short but critical mission.
      Today's programme provides a detailed overview of the tests that were performed and the safeguards built into the system to maximise chances for misison success. It includes images from a recent check-out at ESOC, where the functioning of Huygens systems was tested.

      script_v3_TC.doc Page 1 of 3 14/12/2004 13:15
      ""Huygens ready for the final plunge""
      10:00:40
      Europe's Huygens probe has covered billions of kilometres.
      But on its mothership now observing the Saturn system, the end is in
      sight.
      Cassini instruments have several times measured the density of Titan's
      atmosphere... at a distance in September, and during the two close flybys
      in October and on 13 December.
      Scientists & engineers have compared the data they obtained with their
      models for the Huygens descent... and their calculations look good.
      10:01:13
      During the interplanetary journey, Huygens has been regularly woken
      from its slumbers to verify that all its systems would be ready for the final
      plunge.
      During the 15th in-flight checkout on 14 September, conducted from the
      Mission Operations Centre in Darmstadt Germany, all systems reported
      ready for duty.
      Including the triply-redundant alarmclock which, at the end of the coast
      phase, will switch-on Huygens just before entry into Titan's atmosphere

    Tape Details

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    • Length 14:10:00
    • Format BETACAM
    • Commercial Use No
    • Producer Martin Ransom

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    TAGS

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    • Activity Space Science
    • Mission Cassini-Huygens, Huygens
    • People Bob Mitchell, Claudio Sollazzo
    • System Cassini orbiter, Huygens Probe
    • Location Darmstadt, ESOC, Germany, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena
    • Action Discussing, Testing, Working
    • Keywords Probe, Saturn, Space Exploration, Titan

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