The Cassini-Huygens mission is now only 8 hours away from the first landing on another planet's moon. The Huygens probe detached from the Cassini mother ship on Christmas eve and has been making it's way to Titan over the past 3 weeks. If all goes well, the first pictures of the surface of this cloud covered moon are expected in by early Saturday morning.

I'm excited!





Oh, and let's get all the griping out of the way early this time - as a public service, I will repost the counter argument to scientific research as earlier posted by our own plumlucky:

Originally posted by plumlucky How many people especially in the poorer countrys could have been helped with the over 1 billions dollars that was spent on the mars landing. I think we should forget space travel until we solve the worlds problems. That mars landing alone came at the cost of tens of thousands of lives because that is the number of people who died from that money not being spent on vacinations, medicine food and education for the poorest countries. It you take into account all the other billions of dollars spent over the years in the space industry and the number of people especially vulnerable children who have died because we chose to spend money on "toys" instead of people it is really sad. I can barely look at the pictures knowing what they cost. Just my 2 cents worth.

(Too bad it's too late to divert the probe on a tsunamai rescue mission! )

Originally posted by Common Cents The Cassini-Huygens mission is now only 8 hours away from the first landing on another planet's moon. The Huygens probe detached from the Cassini mother ship on Christmas eve and has been making it's way to Titan over the past 3 weeks. If all goes well, the first pictures of the surface of this cloud covered moon are expected in by early Saturday morning. I'm excited!

Thanks for the reminder. I'm excited too, I hope all goes well!

Rae

Originally posted by Common Cents The Cassini-Huygens mission is now only 8 hours away from the first landing on another planet's moon. The Huygens probe detached from the Cassini mother ship on Christmas eve and has been making it's way to Titan over the past 3 weeks. If all goes well, the first pictures of the surface of this cloud covered moon are expected in by early Saturday morning. I'm excited! Oh, and let's get all the griping out of the way early this time - as a public service, I will repost the counter argument to scientific research as earlier posted by our own plumlucky: (Too bad it's too late to divert the probe on a tsunamai rescue mission! )

I still feel the same way, put people first!

Originally posted by Common Cents I'm excited!

Me Too!!
Apparently it has landed and is sending out information, which has been confirmed by "eavesdropping" on the signals between the probe and the Cassini orbiter. It will still be a couple of hours before the orbiter is in position to send signals to Earth.

Thanks, CC - I always appreciate your space news updates - corporate media's too busy with trashy court cases to spend much time on science and exploration these days. I'll have the family gathered around the computer screen for tomorrow's first pictures!

Originally posted by plumlucky I still feel the same way, put people first!

I wanted to find the original post, but the search function couldn't find it for me so I'll post it here.

Before we take funding away from scientific endeavours, perhaps we should stop paying our politicians, celebrities and atheletes such an outrageous amount of money!

There are a lot of scientific disciplines that could be considered "unnecessary" to some, including my own (my work will likely only be seen in obscure high-level textbooks and scientific journals that don't really serve the average human being) - do you suggest that we stop funding for these as well? Do that and it will eliminate a lot of jobs in our own country and then we'll have a bigger issue right here at home, and you can bet our country will be too busy helping our own people to bother helping those in developing countries.

Just curious to your thoughts on this.

Rae

Cassini-Huygens Nuts - the probe has touched down, according to CNN! So exciting!

Mods - please move this post to the appropriate thread, if there still is one. I don't want to be off-topic.

Originally posted by LadyRae Before we take funding away from scientific endeavours, perhaps we should stop paying our politicians, celebrities and atheletes such an outrageous amount of money! There are a lot of scientific disciplines that could be considered "unnecessary" to some, including my own (my work will likely only be seen in obscure high-level textbooks and scientific journals that don't really serve the average human being) - do you suggest that we stop funding for these as well? Do that and it will eliminate a lot of jobs in our own country and then we'll have a bigger issue right here at home, and you can bet our country will be too busy helping our own people to bother helping those in developing countries.

I totally concur. It seems to be too easy to just say "don't spend money on space exploration and the sciences, spend it at home!" Fact is, I'm sure after christmas shoppers throughout north america spent far more on impulse buys of things they won't even use just because they were "cheap". Perhaps that money is better spent solving society's ills?

Or of course everyone's favourite target for overspending, the military. While I support the need for the military and having adequate funding, think for a minute about the B-2 Spirit bomber. Rendered pretty much useless due to the Soviet Union's self destruction, each one costs approx $2.2 billion dollars. Oh and the US Air Force bought 21 of them. They originally wanted 120, but the price per plane would have gone down slightly as a lot of the cost is due to the R&D.

I just thought it was interesting that mankind can send a probe halfway across the solar system and actually LEARN something for less than the price of a single stealth bomber that really has no purpose anymore.

Also, don't get me started on the whole economics of the thing.. It isn't like the money for space exploration will just magically disappear. It creates jobs, gets fed back into the economy, some goes straight back to the govt thru taxes etc, hopefully to fund some social programs to give back to the disadvantaged. Granted, the stealth bomber program would do the same to some degree, but at least with the probe etc we get to learn some cool stuff!

One final thing, anyone remember the hubbub generated when the probe was launched initially? On how the probe would crash into the earth and because it had some radioactive isotopes for power, kill us all? It just goes to show that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing..

Pictures!!!

http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/...gens/index.html

This is just so exciting, I've been checking the ESA and NASA sites all day!

Rae

Originally posted by othdawg I totally concur. It seems to be too easy to just say "don't spend money on space exploration and the sciences, spend it at home!" Fact is, I'm sure after christmas shoppers throughout north america spent far more on impulse buys of things they won't even use just because they were "cheap". Perhaps that money is better spent solving society's ills?

I was thinking that myself. Let's also think of cigarettes - these are not helpful in any way (sorry smokers, just my opinion), but people spend their money on them everyday. How about we remove them from the market and divert the money that would have gone toward smoking-related healthcare costs to helping people in developing countries instead?

I just thought it was interesting that mankind can send a probe halfway across the solar system and actually LEARN something for less than the price of a single stealth bomber that really has no purpose anymore.

Not to poke a hole in this, but I thought the price of the Cassini-Huygens probe was $3B US? Perhaps that's for the entire project? Still, it's only just a little more than the cost of ONE stealth bomber. I'm not too familiar with military spending, so thanks for the info on that, it's a really great comparison.

Also, don't get me started on the whole economics of the thing.. It isn't like the money for space exploration will just magically disappear. It creates jobs, gets fed back into the economy, some goes straight back to the govt thru taxes etc, hopefully to fund some social programs to give back to the disadvantaged. Granted, the stealth bomber program would do the same to some degree, but at least with the probe etc we get to learn some cool stuff!

And we actually do benefit from the research from the Space Program!

http://techtran.msfc.nasa.gov/at_home.html

http://lifesci.arc.nasa.gov/earthbenefitspage.html

http://www.ethicalatheist.com/docs/...ce_program.html

Just a few things that have emerged from the Space Program for everyday and worldwide use (these are from the third website):

-Efficient autos and planes benefiting from NASA wind tunnel and aerodynamic expertise.
-Perfect protein crystals grown in zero gravity; used for more pure pharmaceutical drugs, foods and an assortment of other crystalline-based products including insulin for diabetes patients.
-Improvements in energy use efficiency.
-Smoke detectors for homes and commercial buildings.
-Technology for cordless tools such as drills, shrub trimmers and rechargeable flashlights.
-Disposable diapers.
-World-wide television broadcasts.
-Padding in helmets, shin guards, chest protectors and aircraft seating.
-Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TACS) now used by virtually all passenger aircraft.
-Hydroponics used by vegetable farmers to grow crops without soil.
-Fire-Resistant Aircraft Seats.

Just something to think about.

Rae

Originally posted by LadyRae Not to poke a hole in this, but I thought the price of the Cassini-Huygens probe was $3B US? Perhaps that's for the entire project? Still, it's only just a little more than the cost of ONE stealth bomber. I'm not too familiar with military spending, so thanks for the info on that, it's a really great comparison.

Oops, I had read somewhere it was $1.5B for cassini, but perhaps that didn't include the launch + probe etc.. So I could be off.. Ok then, *2* stealth bombers

And we actually do benefit from the research from the Space Program!

You forgot the tang!

Good thought on the smokers though, but I'm sure someone (possibly a smoker) will bring up fatty foods, red meat, driving cars quickly etc as all being drains on the health care dollars too.. Although granted smoking is stupider than all of those other ones combined

Originally posted by othdawg You forgot the tang!

I can't believe I forgot the TANG! And I believe cell phones owe something to the Space Program too! I don't know if they're really a benefit or not - really annoying most of the time, if you ask me, but good in an emergency.

Rae

...more data has been crunched and has been turned into these pictures (including one of what appears to be a beach on a methane sea (?)), and these sounds of the winds on descent (which... "give a realistic reproduction of what a traveller on board Huygens would have heard during one minute of the descent through Titan's atmosphere") and the radar approach recording.

Cool... but they are pacing the release so far, perhaps to keep the web traffic to a reasonable volume - can't wait to see and hear more!

Originally posted by LadyRae Just a few things that have emerged from the Space Program for everyday and worldwide use (these are from the third website): -Technology for cordless tools such as... shrub trimmers. -Disposable diapers.

I don't know whether we should go bragging about these two particular items - they're not exactly a boon to mankind, nor Tang for that matter...

But, thanx for the photo and sound links, CC - bring 'em on!

Originally posted by bookhead I don't know whether we should go bragging about these two particular items - they're not exactly a boon to mankind, nor Tang for that matter... But, thanx for the photo and sound links, CC - bring 'em on!

They may not necessarily be a boon to humanity, but ours is a society that enjoys - and craves - convenience in our everyday lives. These items certainly are more convenient, so many people consider them beneficial.

I imagine your objection to these items is related to their environmental effects? (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) I can appreciate that, but realistically, there aren't enough people in the western world who are willing to give up these conveniences in order to help save the environment. Call me cynical, but I think most people enjoy the convenience too much to consider what they're doing to the environment. I applaud those people who choose the environmentally-friendly alternatives.

I can go without the shrub trimmers myself, but I don't have much experience with diapers and children yet. Any moms out there want to submit testimonials?

Rae

Titan Probe Drops Into "Creme-Brulee"-Like Surface

A pretty interesting article. I'm really impressed that the Huygens probe lasted so much longer than what they had anticipated. I wonder if anything else has been transmitted/collected? Huygens was still transmitting after Cassini moved out of range, but radio astronomers around the planet were trying to pick up the probe's signal afterwards. Has anyone heard anything more on this?

Rae