Huygens in-flight checkout successfully completed
The 7th Huygens in-flight checkout (F7) was successfully executed on 22-23
March. It started at 21:00 UTC on March 22, 2001 and ended at 00:49 UTC on
March 23, 2001.
Cassini was at a distance of 880 million km and the one-way-light-time
delay was approximately 49 minutes. The telemetry was received in
quasi-real-time at the Huygens Probe Operation Centre in ESOC, Darmstadt,
during a Deep Space Network Goldstone station pass.
The Huygens Flight Control Team at ESOC performed a preliminary analysis
of the received data. The results of this analysis confirmed that the Probe
and the on-board Instruments performed well during F7 and that the Huygens
system is in good health in checkout configuration.
Soon after completion of the check-out, the data was distributed to the
Huygens instrument teams and to the Huygens Prime Contractor for detailed
analysis.
USEFUL LINKS FOR THIS STORY
* Huygens home page
http://sci.esa.int/home/huygens/
IMAGE CAPTIONS:
[Image 1:
http://sci.esa.int/content/searchimage/searchresult.cfm?aid=12&cid=12&oid=26589&ooid=12005]
Courtesy NASA.
[Image 2:
http://sci.esa.int/content/searchimage/searchresult.cfm?aid=12&cid=12&oid=26589&ooid=18540]
Cross-sectional view of the Huygens Probe, showing the scientific
instrument and upper platforms nested in the Descent Module, itself
protected by the Front Shield and Back Cover.
[Image 3:
http://sci.esa.int/content/searchimage/searchresult.cfm?aid=12&cid=12&oid=26589&ooid=18510]
Top and bottom computer-generated views of the Huygens platform that
carries the six scientific instruments: Huygens Atmospheric Structure
Instrument (HASI, the atmosphere’s physical profile); Gas Chromatograph
Mass Spectrometer (GCMS, the atmosphere’s chemical profile); Descent
Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR, atmospheric structure and surface
imaging); Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE, wind measurements); Aerosol
Collector and Pyrolyser (ACP, aerosol sampling); Surface Science Package
(SSP, state and composition of Titan’s surface).
