On January 14, 2013, the Huygens exploration probe landed on Titan, the largest of Saturn's satellites, eight years ago. It was the first landing of a body in the outer Solar System and now, thanks to the data sent by the probe, we have been able to recreate what these moments were like.
Taking into account the position of the Sun, the direction of the wind, the dynamics of landing and the behavior of the descent parachute in the European Space Agency (ESA) they have managed to faithfully reproduce how Huygens landed on Titan.
The device left a hole about 12 centimeters deep, according to data published last year, and then bounced and glided about 12 to 40 centimeters, wobbling five times before coming to a complete stop on the surface of Saturn's satellite. On landing, a cloud of "fluffy" dust arose, probably made up of organic aerosols falling from high in Titan's atmosphere, and remained in suspension for about four seconds. This data indicates that the ground was dry and that, therefore, there had been no precipitation of ethane or liquid methane before landing.
The Cassini probe has been orbiting Saturn since July 2004 and will continue its operations until 2017. Huygens separated from Cassini in December 2004 and reached Titan three weeks after the disconnect.
