Built by the European Space Agency (ESA), the 705-pound (320-kilogram) Huygens probe landed on Titan between 7:45-7:46 a.m.EST (1245-1246 GMT) and apparently began beaming at least some data to NASA's Cassini orbiter for later transmission to Earth.
This is very cool. What's even more exciting is the fact that Huygens has survived its landing, indicated by the fact that Earth radio telescopes are continuing to receive its signal an hour after Doppler data indicated a landing at 4:35 a.m. Pacific time. It's very cool to be on space science mailing lists!
It is my understanding that real data from the probe's instruments should start becoming available sometime in the next few hours. Of course, it could be weeks or even months before ESA scientists wade through enough of it to give us a clear picture of what Titan's surface environment is like. Personally, I'm holding out for methane rainstorms. This is very cool and exciting news indeed!
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