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Huygens question
Posted: 06.01.2005, 18:44
by Sky Pilot
Reading on the Cassini-Huygens web site, it talks about the Huygens probe's descent through the atmosphere taking 2 1/2 hours. Why will it take so long, at the speed it travels, to descend through the atmosphere?
Posted: 06.01.2005, 20:14
by maxim
Because it needs to break I suppose.
maxim
Posted: 06.01.2005, 22:49
by Evil Dr Ganymede
maxim wrote:Because it needs to break I suppose.
maxim
I hope you meant "brake" there (as in slow down) - we really don't want it to
break!
.
Plus, that's one hell of a thick atmosphere too - it's about 400 km thick! So it's bound to take a bit longer than normal just because of that...
Posted: 07.01.2005, 02:43
by Michael Kilderry
I thought Maxim meant Huygens needed to take a
snack break on the descent to Titan.
Michael Kilderry
Posted: 07.01.2005, 08:49
by maxim
Evil Dr Ganymede wrote:I hope you meant "brake" there (as in slow down) - we really don't want it to break! Smile.
Yes, of course I do
Sometimes my english is incredible bad. I suddenly misspell words, I used correctly for years.
maxim
Posted: 15.01.2005, 22:55
by ElPelado
It took so long because they wanted to make as much atmosphere science as they could, and for that they used 3 parachutes.
Normally it would have taken less time, like the MER rovers, that after 6 minutes of touching the atmosphere, were already bouncing in the surface...