Titan Unveiled!. Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, was the dedicated target of the European space agency, ESA, Huygens probe. The probe piggy-backed on NASA's Cassini craft, a four-year mission in the Saturnian system, which launched in 1997. As Cassini was captured into orbit around Saturn last July 1st, 2004, it eventually set the Huygens probe on a collision course to Titan last December 24th and, after a 3-week coasting, Huygens entered Titan's atmosphere on January 14th, 2005, parachuting there during 2½ hours. It collected data about Titan gaseous envelope and took panoramic pictures of the moon's landscapes. It eventually touched down, sending this picture of the surface. Pebbles at the foreground are thought to be icy blocks better than rocky ones. They are 6 x 1.5 inches (15 x 4 cm) as they lie 2.8 ft (85 cm) away. Further scattered blocks (about the same size, barely smaller) are at 7.9 ft (2.4 m) away. The horizon is about 290 ft (88 meters) away as the whole scenery is bathed by the characteristic yellow-orange light of Titan, which is due to the color of the atmosphere. Soil was found of the consistency of wet sand or clay, with a thin, solid crust, as it's made of a mix of water and hydrocarbon ice. What we might be seeing there is just like Earth was looking like 4.5 billion years ago! Titan is thought to be very similar to the primitive Earth and it was chosen as a target because it's thought that its atmosphere is manufacturing prebiotic compounds through interactions between the methane, the nitrogen, and sunlight, further falling to the surface, forming the litter for an ensuing possible apparition of life. picture ESA/NASA/University of Arizona