The Huygens Probe: Science, Payload and Mission Overview

Huygens is an entry probe designed to descend under parachute through the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, down to the surface. The main Huygens science mission phase occurs during the 2-2 super(1/2) hours parachute descent. Measurements will also be conducted during the 3 min entry and possibly up to about one hour on the surface if Huygens survives the landing impact. The Probe's payload comprises six instruments. The Huygens Probe is provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the joint NASA/ESA Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan. This paper provides an overview of the Huygens mission and a concise description of the payload as an introduction to the papers which describe the Huygens investigations in this volume.