Radio link may hamper a Titan probe
By Ron Cowen
Parachuting through the orange haze of an alien moon, a small vehicle splashes down onto a frigid hydrocarbon sea. During the descent, its camera records the strange landscape while other detectors analyze the atmosphere’s organic brew. Together, the data provide a glimpse of what conditions may have been like on Earth billions of years ago, just before life got its toehold.
That’s the scene scientists hope to see in 4 years, when the Huygens probe is scheduled to separate from its mother craft, Cassini, and descend through the cloud-bedecked atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. The mission could prove whether this moon harbors hydrocarbon seas (SN: 3/4/00, p. 156: Available to subscribers at Getting a Clear View), which could provide the raw materials for life.