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Huygens Wind Experiment Salvaged
SeaDour writes "Earlier, it was reported that the data from a critical wind speed experiment onboard the Huygens probe to Titan was completely lost due to someone forgetting to turn on one of Cassini's communications channels. However, it now appears that ground-based radio telescopes from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory were able to record the transmission's many subtle doppler shifts and reconstruct that lost wind data. The winds altered the probe's horizontal rate of descent, thereby producing a change in the frequency of the signal received on Earth. Additionally, the resolution of the radio telescopes was good enough to track Huygen's position to within one kilometer, allowing for the creation of a three-dimensional model of Huygen's descent."
The original experiment using Cassini's onboard receivers would have had an accuracy of better than 1 m/sec and presumably similar positioning accuracy. Still, the probe accomplished a lot and was several different kinds of awesome.
"Studies have shown that people who eat peanuts live longer than those who do not eat."
It's one of those moments when you realize that you are living in a Star Trek episode. You know when something goes wrong and then one of the guys (I forget the names) goes like "Captain, I can compensate using *strange word* to modulate *strange word* ...".
oh puhlease... Must everyone always turn everything into a debate ? Okay, so what. congrats to ESA as well. My post was not about Nasa or esa or Uso or wtf... It's about people being persistent and believing in a solution and an outcome, no matter how big the problem may seem, and no matter how big the fuckup to work around.
if it eases your xenophobia : I'm european as well.
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
How come when Europe does something, people claim that's it's a great European accomplishment and everyone salutes them.
However when the USA does something and people claim it's a great American accomplishment, people get offended and feel the need to knock NASA?
It's almost as if the political climate on this forum supports the recognition of someone's feats only if they're considered an underdog?