First images from Titan

It's about 3:10 EST here in Washington, DC. I was just watching CNN and they report that the Huygens spacecraft has just sent back the first images of Titan! They've only shown one so far. As the spacecraft came down into the atmosphere, it sent back images on its way down. The one they showed was from a height of 16km looking straight down. In it you can clearly see drainage channels and what appears to be a large liquid sea bordering a coastline. It really was just magnificent to see. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is the farthest away humans have landed something. If anyone finds any more pictures available online, feel free to post them here.

[edit]Found this on CNN.com. Sorry for the crappy quality, but it's the best I could find so far[/edit]

#245915

dam you Kurt!

i was just going to report this. Saw it on EuroNews. It`s a great achievement for ESA, NASA and the humanity in general.

Now if we could only focus on this kind of research instead of killing each other over money :slant:

#245920

Now if we could only focus on this kind of research instead of killing each other over money :slant:

If they had invested this money into something useful - its possible we could have a cure for cancer or HIV by now! How many billions of dollars/pounds were sunk into this project?

#245925

COOOL !! I love stuff like this

I would also love a cure for hiv btw 0_o

#245927

If they had invested this money into something useful - its possible we could have a cure for cancer or HIV by now! How many billions of dollars/pounds were sunk into this project?

well i`d say it was 10 times less than what Iraqi invasion cost :slant:

and without space research, its results and the materials that were a by-product of it, i`m sure medical science would be 10 years behind what it is now :slant:

#245936

NO politics guys... dont you stray to that side of the road. >_

#245937

i`m not straying, just saying wars are stupid and that we should focus on something that will be beneficial to the whole human kind.

#245938

If they had invested this money into something useful - its possible we could have a cure for cancer or HIV by now! How many billions of dollars/pounds were sunk into this project?

Sorry, but there are natural cures for cancer, diabetes, and many other severe "diseases". The only problem is they aren't available because the FDA has made laws saying that only "drugs" can treat "diseases", and natural cures cannot be "drugs"; therefore, to advertise they must have print saying that their product is not proven to cure you of ___________". Also the food industry purposely puts additives into their products to make them addictive, hungry and make you fat. This way they can receive loads more money because you buy more. Same with the tobacco industry. The CEOs of these tobacco companies have sworn in Congress that 'they do not believe nicotine is addictive', yet there are many studies that prove nicotine is addictive. The tobacco industry just does "stuff" to shut them up. Just enough to either make you feel it's not worth while by causing you lots of stress or draining your money, or killing you. It's all because 'they' don't want you to be healthy and fit because that

#245946

fascinating info there guys, but isn't this thread about the Titan probe? (couldn't resist that)

seriously though, this is endlessly fascinating.

#245958

Now if we could only focus on this kind of research instead of killing each other over money :slant:

watch it. that kind of talk could get you killed

lol

but i do agree. both a great achievement and its nice to see money well spent. one still must wonder if money used for something like this would be better used for disease research, you know? it's definately great, but wouldnt a cure for cancer or even HIV (though unlikely at our pace) be more directly beneficial to humanity?

#245982

Sorry, but there are natural cures for cancer, diabetes, and many other severe "diseases". The only problem is they aren't available because the FDA has made laws saying that only "drugs" can treat "diseases" and natural cures cannot be "drugs"; therefore, to advertise they must have print saying that their product is not proven to cure you of ___________".

Not true - the laws, I believe you'll find, state that any proposed cure or treatment must be shown, in controlled tests, to have some positive effect on the subjects. This is near impossible to do with natural remedies, insofar as most of them are merely placeba.

Also, the reasons they have to say that their product isn't proven to cure whatever is because it simply cannot be proven. And, as any good scientist knows, if something can't be proven, it's as good as worthless.

Also the food industry purposely puts additives into their products to make them addictive, hungry and make you fat. This way they can receive loads more money because you buy more.

This is sensationalist garbage. There is no evidence of this, anywhere, and the reason that countries suffer from obesity is simply because the environment that their culture is encouraging (sitting indoors, shovelling fatty foods into your mouth) isn't conductive to a healthy lifestyle.

Same with the tobacco industry. The CEOs of these tobacco companies have sworn in Congress that 'they do not believe nicotine is addictive', yet there are many studies that prove nicotine is addictive.

They can "not believe" that as much as they like, but every authority in the world has definitively proven that nicotine is addictive, and anyone stupid enough to believe otherwise is precisely that - stupid.

The tobacco industry just does "stuff" to shut them up. Just enough to either make you feel it's not worth while by causing you lots of stress or draining your money, or killing you. It's all because 'they' don't want you to be healthy and fit because that

It's nothing to do with not wanting you to be healthy - an unhealthy customer is, ultimately, a dead customer. What they want is your money in their pocket, as quickly as possible.

In short, you're erring on the side of being overly political (as am I, but I hate to see sensationalist propaganda going unchecked), not to mention that everything you've said is riddled not only with propaganda, but also with a distinct lack of understanding of the world at large.

Ok, let's get this back on topic.

So anal *ahem* space probes...

#245984

i see something like a military base.

#246010

Yea, i don't get whats so great about it. Sure its a great achievment and all that we were able to land a probe on saturns moon...so? We can speculize that there was once life there all we want, but does it really matter? Even if they do find some bacteria or something, who cares? I don't understand the point in wasting money on things like this, some people argue about medical science, thats where the space station comes in. A probe landing on saturn doesn't give us anything back except pictures, and those pictures cost millions / billions of dollars. Whats the point?

#246019

holy crap that's pretty incredible...

but i think we're a bit slow on this space thing... i mean we should have people on mars already... :cool:

#246021

oh well. there are two roads that this can lead to........something totally hopeless and ;nonsense, meaning that all this effort and study will not be worth it, wasteful, just fantasy and we will just not make use of this kind of stuff, or it weill be

something totally revolutionary., like living on mars or something like that, but our health and ourselves should be the number one priority.

sure it's a cool thing, but i doubt we can really make use of this kind of feat for now

#246028

awesome pic this is my first time hearing about it or seeing it...im not too big on tv or news.....its the same shi*t different day.....

#246068

ahhhhh what do ya know another rock floating through space! Fasinating! I guess it was worth the 3.3 billion...

And by the way NASA, I am still waiting for the proof that we landed on the moon.

#246084

Found another picture on the BBC website

"The first colour view of Titan's surface from the Huygens probe"

#246149

oh yea. i remember. a planet with wind to float the flag yet no atmosphere!

gosh. look at the tsunami you guys.........NASA! you didn't even donate a dollar to them!

#246154

Well, steelfist, Nasa doesn't have to donate a penny of money. They're an American government organization, and the American government already donated a sizable amount of money (yes, I know about their initial offering).

I think space exploration is pretty cool-- something about it just appeals to you inside, you know?

-NC

#246174

Great images...really this is a very important moment for astronomy!

#246233

very interesting development.

#246318

Alien bacteria can give us loads of information because it hasnt been exposed to anything from earth. A bacteria could help us produce antibodies for a load of different diseases including cancer and HIV. If bacteria can grow in such a harsh environment, it could possibly withstand a little viral infection. There are lots of possible applications for what NASA does. There are far less productive things getting far more funding than NASA.

#246666

ooh

hopefully i'll get to go to another damn planet before i die

=3

#246668

Yea, i don't get whats so great about it. Sure its a great achievment and all that we were able to land a probe on saturns moon...so? We can speculize that there was once life there all we want, but does it really matter? Even if they do find some bacteria or something, who cares? I don't understand the point in wasting money on things like this, some people argue about medical science, thats where the space station comes in. A probe landing on saturn doesn't give us anything back except pictures, and those pictures cost millions / billions of dollars. Whats the point?

thats totally not true you gotta realize some of the more technological products and services we have today is the by product of the space program.

case in point the MRI, Food preservation techniques, use of composite materials and countless others. So ya we do spend alot of money but we also get alot back

#246875