A European-designed space probe broke away from its NASA mothership on Friday on a plunge toward the mysterious Saturn moon Titan, starting a journey researchers hope will end with answers about one of the most puzzling bodies in the solar system. Ground controllers received a signal at about 7:24 p.m. Pacific time (10:24 p.m. EST) indicating that Huygens had separated from NASA's Saturn probe Cassini, as small explosives sheared away locking bolts and a set of springs gently pushed the probe off on a collision course with Titan. "The only thing we have to do now is assess how it left," said Earl Maize, deputy program manager for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here, referring to the probe's trajectory and how it spins as it heads to Titan. Huygens will now "sleep" for the next three weeks, coasting in a suspended state toward Titan and waking just four hours before its arrival on Jan. 14. The European Space Agency-managed Huygens aims to shed light on the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere, a place where the surface may not be solid and the truth, scientists say, is almost certainly stranger than fiction. "There are several books on the subject ... and I'm sure that they're all wrong," said Jean-Pierre Lebreton, the Huygens project manager with the ESA. Long a favorite home for science-fiction tales, Titan is larger than the planets Mercury and Pluto.

Its atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, like Earth, but its surface temperatures of about minus-180 degrees Celsius make it inhospitable. "In some sense it's a trip to early Earth," said David Southwood, director of the scientific program for the ESA. One of the biggest questions, Southwood and colleagues said, is whether there is any liquid on Titan's surface -- like lakes filled with methane rain. Huygens will hopefully answer that question, having already traveled 2.2 billion miles to Saturn over seven years on the hip of the NASA craft Cassini.

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IMHO, Titan is the best candidate for alien life forms - may it be something as small as a microbe or as large as a whale.
It is already full of organic materials, and as science already know about earth-based bacterias that can survive in liquid nitrogen (-196C) and nuclear reactors (deadly radiation), I'm almost certain that there are life forms in Titan as well.

Couldn't agree more...if we're gonna find life in our solar system it's gonna be on Titan. Water too

Hopefully not just stupid microorganisms

I just hope all goes according to plan and the probe isn't lost, after taking seven years to get there it would be awful if they lost contact with it at the last minute.

I personally believe Europa would be a better candidate for life than Titan. Scientists are now 100% certain that liquid water does flow uner the surface at about 60 miles of depth or so.

And for the probe, I really hope it lands on a solid part of the surface and can take a few photos. That would be absolutely incredible!

MedicTJ, that might be so (I actually believe Europa does have potential for harbouring alien life), but the fact is that Titan has organic materials on it (it's atmosphere is full of it), has atmosphere which is only 1.5 denser than ours, and so the only problem for life to develop there would be the cold temperatures. But since we know of bacterias that thrive at such low temps here on earth, I think it is pretty safe to say that theoritically, there could be life there.

What if we do discover this bacteria on Titan? What then... ? Microbes will hardly be able to deliver to us technology beyond our dreams.. Although it would be beyond anything we could dream.. proof of life on another planet may do nothing but disrupt they way this planet is now. How can religon respond to something like this??

How would they respond? All of the world's major religions always find a way to explain things in order to suit their particular doctrine.

If it were discovered that life exists elsewhere, you can bet that the words of the prophets of old will be "re-interpreted" so as to explain it.

The main problem with trying to find life on Europa is that if it is there, it will probably be down under the ice. That creates a major challenge for the engineers working on such a project, as the probe will need to somehow melt it's way down through the ice, then also be able to swim around, provide light in the darkness and take useful readings or photographs.

There's also the problem that the probe could in some way 'infect' the underwater environment. The last thing we want to do is rush into a mission like that and contaminate the otherwise untouched subterreanean, underwater world.

I agree. And there are also several questions about how the data from that far beneath the surface would be transmitted. Unfortunately, the radiation emitted from Jupiter onto that moon is substantial and I'm not sure we yet have the technology to create a spacecraft that would be able to withstand it for the long period of time it would have to be there.

There's absolutely no way it could just be a "meet and greet" affair. Any lander would have to spend at least a month on the surface to be successful.

Any idea when we'll hear anything about its and the surface?

Should be around January 14th. Maybe the 15th. But the probe is supposed to "wake up" on the 14th.

The discovery of any alien life forms, may it be bacteria or multi-cellar, will be enourmous. The question since the dawn of time, when the human kind looked up to the sky and thought to himself: "Am I alone?" will finally be answered.
You could then even divide the history of humanity into two eras - the one before such a discovery, and the one after that.
Our knowledge about ourselves, about our existance and about our role in this world will forever change.

You are right on the money Erikl, if and when this discovery does happen, it will be a new beggining for the human race and hopefully it will inspire us to go out into the universe and find all the life that must be waiting for us!

I absolutely can't wait for this to happen.

No kidding! Can't hardly wait.
So many things could change, just like that.