Drop test of the Huygens Probe from a stratospheric balloon

Huygens is an atmospheric Probe designed for the in-situ exploration of the atmosphere of Titan, Huygens is the ESA-provided element of the joint NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan, The Cassini-Huygens launch is foreseen in October 1997. After a 7-year journey through the Solar system, Huygens will separate from the mother spacecraft, the Cassini Saturn Orbiter, in early November 2004, About 3 weeks after separation, the Huygens Probe will enter into the upper atmosphere of Titan protected by its heat shield. Following the ejection of the heat shield, the parachute will be deployed for controlling the descent through the atmosphere of Titan down to the surface. The descent will last between 2 and 2 1/2 hours. For the drop test, a full scale model of the Huygens Probe, which included all flight-like mechanisms and parachutes, was developed. The main objective of the test was to demonstrate the parachute deployment sequence; a secondary objective was to characterise the science-driven probe stability and spin design features during the parachute descent phase. (C) 1998 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.