Huygens was a European Space Agency probe carried to the Saturn system on the NASA Cassini spacecraft. It was named after the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who discovered Saturn's moon Titan. After a journey of seven years, the probe separated from Cassini at the end of 2004 and entered Titan's thick atmosphere in January 2005, descending by parachute for about two and a half hours. It transmitted data and images during its descent and from the surface for more than an hour. It showed a landscape with channels cut by liquid methane and rounded pebbles of ice, and it measured the composition of the atmosphere. It was the first landing on a body in the outer solar system.
Before and after
- 23 September 1997Release of Yandex
- 2 October 1997Amsterdam Treaty
- 10 October 1997Founding of GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development
- 15 October 1997Launch of Cassini−Huygens
- 15 October 1997Launch of Huygens
- 18 October 1997Construction of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
- 1 November 1997Release of Titanic
- 3 December 1997Ottawa Treaty
- 11 December 1997Kyoto Protocol
More in Universe & space
- 22 October 1969Discovery of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
- 14 September 1974Discovery of Leda
- 24 May 1981Discovery of Larissa
- 22 August 1981Discovery of Pan
- 18 September 1989Discovery of Naiad
- 26 June 2012Discovery of Styx
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.