{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Cassini spacecraft launches probe on course to Titan' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c308d8eafeecae15e2f2' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c308d8eafeecae15e2f2' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nCassini spacecraft launches probe on course to Titan\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003e1. \"Jet Propulsion Laboratories\" sign, pan to roadway2. Wide exterior shot of JPL space flight operations centre3. Wide pan of mission control room, with staff wearing Christmas hats 4. Mission leaders hear report that the Huygens probe...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003e1. \"Jet Propulsion Laboratories\" sign, pan to roadway\u003cbr/\u003e2. Wide exterior shot of JPL space flight operations centre\u003cbr/\u003e3. Wide pan of mission control room, with staff wearing Christmas hats \u003cbr/\u003e4. Mission leaders hear report that the Huygens probe has separated, they start clapping and shaking hands\u003cbr/\u003e5. Various shots of people in control room celebrating\u003cbr/\u003e6. Computer animation of the Huygens probe separating from the Cassini spacecraft\u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE (English) David Southwood, ESA Director of Science:\u003cbr/\u003e\"So far we''re very confident that we''ve got a good start, huygens is safely on its way\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. Computer animation of Cassini and Huygens spacecraft in matching trajectories \u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE (English) David Southwood, ESA Director of Science:\u003cbr/\u003e\"So this was very, very critical. This was one of the break-points. We''ve got over this hurdle, and now the next thing will be the decent into Titan''s atmosphere.\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. Mission control room staff at their desks wearing Christmas hats after the separation\u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Mitchell, NASA-JPL Cassini Programme Manager:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We have been carrying the Huygens probe on the side of the Cassini orbiter ever since launch for the last seven years. We''ve carefully been targeting and crafting the trajectory, to get it in a position to where we can finally release it. And tonight we broke it loose, sent it spinning off on it way, targeted, leading Titan - it''s like a hunter shooting at a flying duck, we had to lead way ahead of it. Titan still has one-and-a-half revolutions of Saturn to make before the probe will intercept Titan. So it''s now on its way and three weeks to go.\u003cbr/\u003e10. Computer animation of the trajectories of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft through the Saturn system towards Titan\u003cbr/\u003e11. Computer animation of the Huygens probe heading towards Titan\u003cbr/\u003e12. Computer animation of the Huygens probe heating up as it enters the atmosphere of Titan\u003cbr/\u003e13. Computer animation of the Huygens probe with its parachute deployed, jettisoning heat-shield \u003cbr/\u003e14. Computer animation of the Huygens probe and parachute descending through the atmosphere of Titan\u003cbr/\u003eThe European-built Huygens probe has separated on schedule from the Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn, starting a three-week free-fall toward Saturn''s moon Titan.\u003cbr/\u003eThe Huygens probe is equipped with instruments to sample the chemistry of the planet-size moon''s thick atmosphere, and may reveal whether it actually has lakes or seas of liquid hydrocarbons that have been theorised by scientists.\u003cbr/\u003eA signal confirming release of the probe was received at NASA''s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California at 0324 GMT Saturday. \u003cbr/\u003eThe separation had taken place earlier, but it took more than an hour for radio signals to cross the hundreds of millions of kilometres between Saturn and Earth.\u003cbr/\u003eSmiles broke out in the JPL control room where many members of the mission staff wore red and white Santa hats.\u003cbr/\u003eThe aim had to be good because Huygens has no manoeuvring system to adjust its own course, and it was designed to remain dormant until just before hitting Titan''s atmosphere on 14 January. \u003cbr/\u003eA detailed analysis of data from the release was under way, but there were no indications of any problems, said Earl Maize, the Cassini deputy program manager at JPL.\u003cbr/\u003eCassini was equipped with springs to gently push the 320-kilogram Huygens probe away at a rate of 30 centimetres per second and impart a stabilising spin of seven revolutions per minute. \u003cbr/\u003eNext week Cassini will make a course change to avoid following Huygens into Titan''s atmosphere.\u003cbr/\u003eHuygens was designed for only a brief mission. \u003cbr/\u003eAfter entering Titan''s atmosphere it will deploy a parachute and make a two 2 1/2-hour descent while its instruments test the moon''s environment and its panoramic cameras take photographs, relaying data back to the Cassini spacecraft in orbit.\u003cbr/\u003eIf it survives what planners hope will be a soft landing, Huygens may continue sending data for up to 30 minutes, when either its battery fails or Cassini vanishes over Titan''s horizon.\u003cbr/\u003eCassini will later turn its antenna toward Earth and send the data back to NASA''s Deep Space Network and on to an ESA operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany.\u003cbr/\u003eTitan is a key target of Cassini''s 3.3 (b) billion US dollar (2.4  (b) billion euro) mission to study the Saturn system, which includes its spectacular rings and numerous moons. \u003cbr/\u003eScientists believe Titan may be rich in organic (meaning carbon-based) compounds similar those on found on earth before life evolved.\u003cbr/\u003eBigger than the planets Mercury and Pluto, Titan is the only moon in the solar system known to have a significant atmosphere. \u003cbr/\u003eRich with nitrogen and containing about six percent methane, the atmosphere is one-and-a-half times thicker than Earth''s.\u003cbr/\u003eWith the Saturn system averaging about 890 million miles (1.4 billion kilometres) from the sun, Titan has a surface temperature of minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (143 Celsius).\u003cbr/\u003eLittle is known about the surface, which may be solid or feature lakes and seas of organic chemicals. \u003cbr/\u003eThe Cassini mission is a joint project of NASA, ESA and the Italian space agency. 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