Huygens captures image of Titan's surface

DARMSTADT, Germany, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency's Huygens probe has transmitted images from the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.

The images, released by ESA on Friday, show a boulder-strewn field interspersed with frozen blocks of ice -- probably methane -- and something vaguely resembling an ocean in the distance. They are the first photographs ever taken of the giant moon's surface, which is located nearly 1 billion miles from the sun.

Huygens sent about two hours' worth of data back to Earth via relay by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, including images during its descent to Titan's surface, which appeared to show drainage channels like those on Earth.

ESA officials called the probe's mission a "resounding success."

Huygens had piggy-backed aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft for seven years before separating Dec. 25 on a dead-stick trajectory toward Titan. The probe entered the moon's atmosphere and apparently parachuted successfully to Titan's surface.

"This is a great achievement for Europe and its U.S. partners in this ambitious international endeavor to explore the Saturnian system," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA's director general.