20 years celebration of the Huygens landing and the Cassini mission’s success
16-18 sept. 2025
Paris Observatory, 77 Av. Denfert Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France - Paris (France)
Twenty years ago, on 14 January 2005, the Huygens probe, carried into the Saturn system by the Cassini probe, landed on the surface of Titan, the largest satellite in space, after a 2.5-hour parachute descent. Launched in 1997, after 7.5 years of interplanetary travel, the Cassini-Huygens space mission delivered 13 years of exploration of an extremely complex planet-satellite-ring system with unique dynamic processes and couplings. Titan was the preferred target of the Huygens probe which landed in January 2005 for the first time on a satellite so far from Earth. Huygens demonstrates the exceptional capabilities of the European Space Agency and European laboratories in the exploration of the solar system, in association with many partners around the world. The results of this mission are numerous, rich and continue to provide us with new information to this day (articles are still published today on analyses of Cassini and Huygens data and associations between the two). We propose to take advantage of the 20th anniversary of the Huygens landing to look back on this remarkable event, which marked the history of space exploration, review the information obtained during this exceptional exploration and discuss the future projects of space agencies at the dawn of programs such as ESA's Voyage 2050 or NASA's Decadal Survey (Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032). During this three-day symposium, we discussed the origins and discoveries of this international mission (ESA, NASA, ASI) to explore in terms of science and technological processes, but we also look to the future with the increasingly ambitious programs of the space agencies, for a return to Titan and also to Enceladus, Saturn's other satellite with extraordinary characteristics. Indeed, in the decades to come, our knowledge, not only of Titan (thanks to the Dragonfly mission which will be launched in 2028), but also of the other satellites of Saturn, in particular Enceladus, the preferred target of future flagship missions (NASA's “Flagship” or ESA's L4), will be multiple. The same is true for the Saturn system and our solar system in general. Cassini-Huygens will serve as a bridge to this future and its legacy will serve to ensure a scientific return of great importance for generations to come. We will discuss our knowledge of Titan and Enceladus, and of icy worlds in general, already been revealed by this mission, still cited today as an example of successful international collaboration by all space agencies and experts, who praise its scientific merit and inspiration it provides for future generations.
Discipline scientifique :
Planète et Univers
Lieu de la conférence