Jan. 18, 2005, 10:59AM
Spacecraft landed in mud on Saturn's moon
Associated Press
FRANKFURT, Germany — A European spacecraft landed in mud when it hit the surface of Titan, a scientist said today, revealing animated pictures of the final feet of its descent to the moon of Saturn.
The latest pictures underline beliefs that the Huygens probe landed near a large body of liquid on Friday when it ended a seven-year mission by the European Space Agency to the previously untouched moon.
Another series of photos showed how Titan's hazy atmosphere gave way to a more solid, but clearly varied surface as the spacecraft tumbled and spun toward its final resting place.
"There wasn't even a glitch at impact. That landing was a lot friendlier than we had anticipated," said Charles See, a scientist who has been studying the images...cont'd
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/2997679