This is a classic article from New Scientist’s archive, republished as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations
A MACHINE from Earth is now resting on an ice-strewn plain a billion kilometres away. The Huygens probe landed on Titan last Friday. It started transmitting during its descent and kept on going far longer than anyone expected after it reached the surface. The images and other data it sent back are extraordinary. Although analysis has barely begun, educated guesses by the Huygens team are giving us a first impression of this new world.
After the failure of the European Space Agency’s Beagle…
