2016-01-14 Thu

Huygens, an atmospheric entry probe landed successfully on Saturn's moon Titan on 14th January in 2005.

It was built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and was part of the Cassini–Huygens mission.Huygens became the first spacecraft ever to land on Titan. The probe was named after the Dutch 17th-century astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who discovered Titan in 1655.

The combined Cassini–Huygens spacecraft was launched from Earth on October 15, 1997 and Huygens separated from the Cassini orbiter on December 25, 2004. It landed on Titan on January 14, 2005 near the Xanadu region.

This was the first and only landing ever accomplished in the outer Solar System so far.

To commemorate this most distant landing of any human-made craft the Royal Mail issued Space Science Stamps Titan: in 2005. The image which is depicted on the stamp was captured by the probe on its way to this historic encounter.