ESA Science News
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The 7th Huygens in-flight checkout (F7) was successfully executed on 22-23 March. It started at 21:00 UTC on March 22, 2001 and ended at 00:49 UTC on March 23, 2001.

Cassini was at a distance of 880 million km and the one-way-light-time delay was approximately 49 minutes. The telemetry was received in quasi-real-time at the Huygens Probe Operation Centre in ESOC, Darmstadt, during a Deep Space Network Goldstone station pass.

The Huygens Flight Control Team at ESOC performed a preliminary analysis of the received data. The results of this analysis confirmed that the Probe and the on-board Instruments performed well during F7 and that the Huygens system is in good health in checkout configuration.

Soon after completion of the check-out, the data was distributed to the Huygens instrument teams and to the Huygens Prime Contractor for detailed analysis.

USEFUL LINKS FOR THIS STORY

• Huygens home page http://sci.esa.int/home/huygens/

[Image 1: http://sci.esa.int/content/searchimage/searchresult.cfm?aid=12&cid=12&oid=26589&ooid=12005]
Courtesy NASA.

[Image 2: http://sci.esa.int/content/searchimage/searchresult.cfm?aid=12&cid=12&oid=26589&ooid=18540]
Cross-sectional view of the Huygens Probe, showing the scientific instrument and upper platforms nested in the Descent Module, itself protected by the Front Shield and Back Cover.

[Image 3: http://sci.esa.int/content/searchimage/searchresult.cfm?aid=12&cid=12&oid=26589&ooid=18510]
Top and bottom computer-generated views of the Huygens platform that carries the six scientific instruments: Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI, the atmosphere's physical profile); Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS, the atmosphere's chemical profile); Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR, atmospheric structure and surface imaging); Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE, wind measurements); Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser (ACP, aerosol sampling); Surface Science Package (SSP, state and composition of Titan's surface).