The 2.5hr descent of the Huygens probe in Titan's atmosphere in 2005 was, and remains, the longest-duration planetary parachute dynamics dataset in history, and assumes particular importance given preparations for the Dragonfly mission. However, whereas the dynamics of contemporary Mars entry-and-descent missions are well-determined by integrated Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) sampled at rates up to 200 Hz, Huygens had a variety of measurements of varying quality and uneven, but always low, sample rates, which have generally been assessed only piecemeal. The present work attempts a more holistic analysis, using the statistical properties of the under-sampled data and combining dynamics information (accelerometers, tilt sensors) with absolute attitude constraints from radio and camera observations. These data shed light on what aspects of Huygens' occasionally vigorous motions can be attributed to the environment (i.e. turbulence) and what are self-excited movements associated with the dynamics of the probe-parachute system. Discrepancies between the spin rates at separation, prior to entry, and post-entry are noted.
Decoding the Descent Dynamics of the Huygens Probe
2022-03-05
821054 byte
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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