The Huygens probe has landed successfully on the surface of Titan, and has beamed back pictures as well as a bonanza of data, far more than mission engineers had hoped for. The lander was supposed to collect about 2 1/2 hours of data on the descent, and then only a few minutes of data from the surface. But the probe continued to send out an extra two and a half hours of data to the Cassini satellite for relay to Earth, after which Cassini had flown too far away to receive any more data.

The photo shown at left is the first from the moon’s surface, and was colorized to match the data received from the probe. A great many photographs of Titan from the descent and landing are available, but so far are raw images; cleaner, sharper images, larger in scope once the panoramic elements are successfully stitched together, will doubtlessly be coming soon. This particular shot shows small-to-medium-sized “pebbles” starting less than a meter from the probe, possibly made up of ice.

The atmosphere is also noticeably thick. Even if you knew that Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system (after Ganymede; both moons are larger than Mercury) and the only one with an atmosphere and clouds, you may still be surprised to learn that its atmosphere is thicker than the Earth’s, and while primarily nitrogen (like Earth’s), its other major components are apparently methane and cyanide.

This March 25th will mark the 350th anniversary of the moon’s discovery by Dutch mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens (read the entry on him).

This mission marks yet another success for space agencies, recently plagued by a variety of failures. Both this mission and the Mars rovers Opportunity and Spirit–also both drastically exceeding their expected lifetimes–have been spectacular showcases for how space exploration is done right. (Opportunity is now inspecting its own discarded heat shield, pictured below, found quite a distance from the landing site.)

We’re getting treated to an enormous wealth of photos and data about Mars and Saturn this year, and all I can say is, money well-spent. Give us more of this kind of thing!