Thursday, September 30, 2010

A European Space Agency technician installs a CD bearing the names of 100,000 folks onto the Huygens probe, prior to launch on October 15, 1997.
ESA

SO I JUST READ online yesterday that Europeans had the opportunity (back in early 1997) to submit their names, via the Internet, to be placed onto the Huygens probe. Huygens is a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft that hitched a ride to Saturn onboard NASA’s Cassini orbiter when it launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in October of 1997, and landed on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan in January of 2005. I would say "DARN IT!" to this missed opportunity, but can’t for two reasons: 1.) I didn’t have access to the Internet till I started college in late 1998, and 2.) I’m not European. Oh well. I’ll try to ignore the fact that not only could I have had the opportunity to have my name go to Pluto and beyond onboard the New Horizons spacecraft (which reaches Pluto in less than 5 years. Godspeed), but I would’ve also been able to have my moniker lie on the cold, rocky surface of an outer planet’s moon if I was Italian or something. Oh well. To those 100,000 or so Brits, Italians, Germans, French folks, etc. who submitted their names for this successful mission 13 years ago, lucky you.

An artist's concept of ESA's Huygens probe on the surface of Titan, one of Saturn's moons.
ESA

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