On 14 January 2005, as the world watched breathlessly, ESA’s Huygens landing probe lunged into Titan’s dense atmosphere, deployed parachutes and then spent a leisurely two and a half hours descending to the surface, transmitting scientific data the entire time, which was relayed by NASA’s Cassini orbiter back to Earth. That afternoon, the Huygens Spacecraft Operations Manager, Claudio Sollazzo, was watching intently in the Main Control Room for the first data to arrive. When the signal came in, a loud cheer went up and the success of Cassini and Huygens was transmitted worldwide by the gathered media.
(pic: ESA-J. Mai)
