Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science

Huygens Probe retargeting capability

This is in response to the post below Can they target Huygens?, though I assume you meant re-target. Since the landing site is at the end of a long chain of precisely choreographed events that are tied to the trajectory and timing considerations for the four-year orbital tour, the short answer is no, assuming the current profile is used (i.e., probe mission during the Tc flyby). Huygens' angle of attack, however, can be adjusted plus or minus a degree or two at release, which could affect its landing site. However, I believe the two landing site dispersion ellipses I've seen (one for prograde winds and one for retrograde winds, both of which are largely uncharacterized) take this into account.

Of course, if the nominal release is missed on Tc there are contingency plans for one or two backup releases on subsequent Titan flybys, which would have to be inserted into the plan and would throw off the early part of the tour. I haven't seen the landing sites for these options yet but I assume they would be different locations. Let's hope we don't have to use this option, though.

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