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DARMSTADT, Germany, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- European Space Agency
officials said they have received the signal that confirms the
Huygens probe has landed on Saturn's moon Titan.
Mission controllers in Germany received the first signals
from the probe, which are being relayed by NASA's Cassini
spacecraft, at about 10:24 a.m. ET, indicating the landing has been
successful. Cassini was expected to send additional data collected
by the probe over several more hours Friday.
Cassini collected the data signal during its latest flyby of
Titan, the only moon in the solar system with a known atmosphere.
Huygens had been attached to NASA's Cassini spacecraft since
its launch in 1997. It separated from Cassini on Christmas Day and
had been headed toward Titan for its Jan. 14 rendezvous.
Communications between Huygens and Cassini will last only
for a few hours, after which the spacecraft will pass behind Titan
and no longer will be able to receive signals from Huygens.
Cassini's orbit will carry it to a return to Titan in 31 days.