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Unmanned Spaceflight.com > Outer Solar System > Saturn > Cassini Huygens > Titan
tty
Would methane dew really collect on Huygens? I would expect the probe to be warmer than its surroundings, not colder.
centsworth_II
The last 50km of the descent exposed Huygens to colder temperatures. I recollect that methane was evaporated from the surface by the 'hot' intake for the mass spectrometer. However, I expect that the rest of the probe's exterior was cold, being well insulated from the warm interior.
Click to view attachment
http://www.obspm.fr/actual/nouvelle/nov05/titan.en.shtml
ugordan
Also, keep in mind that Huygens was thermally insulated pretty well so on the outside it could have conceivably cooled to ambient temperature.
MahFL
You know it's nice to remember we have pictures from the surface, I had not seen that in many months and it brings back a nice warm feeling of a successful mission. smile.gif
rlorenz
QUOTE (ugordan @ Dec 17 2008, 11:36 AM) *
Also, keep in mind that Huygens was thermally insulated pretty well so on the outside it could have conceivably cooled to ambient temperature.


exactly - see my analysis of the thermal interaction of Huygens with its environment

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rlorenz/huygens_thermal.pdf
tty
As far as I can see you estimate in the paper that the skin temperature of Huygens was 5 K above ambient at landing rising to "a few tens of K above ambient" which I should think would preclude condensation.
centsworth_II
QUOTE (tty @ Dec 18 2008, 02:41 PM) *
As far as I can see you estimate in the paper that the skin temperature of Huygens was 5 K above ambient at landing rising to "a few tens of K above ambient" which I should think would preclude condensation.

From the link in the opening post:
"Scientists think heat from the probe caused humid air to rise and condense on the cold edge of the craft."

I think protruding edges would be closer to the ambient temperature than would the overall surface temperature of the probe. And since the ambient temperature quickly rose 24 degrees before impact: "....just prior to surface impact, although the environmental temperature increases from 70 to 94 K...." (from Ralph Lorenz's paper), I can see how it would be possible for protruding edges such as those around the DISR to be colder than the surface ambient temperature for a while after landing.
rlorenz
QUOTE (tty @ Dec 18 2008, 02:41 PM) *
As far as I can see you estimate in the paper that the skin temperature of Huygens was 5 K above ambient at landing rising to "a few tens of K above ambient" which I should think would preclude condensation.


As long as a surface like the DISR baffle is cooler than the ground spot heated by the lamp you
can have condensation
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