Huygens probe impact dynamics

The ESA Huygens Probe is due for launch as part of the NASA/ESA Cassini mission in 1997, to arrive at Titan in late 2004, and will make a 2-2.5 h exploratory descent to the surface. However, the state of Titan's surface is largely unknown and it may be at least partially covered in liquid hydrocarbons. With such ignorance of the surface state, and the limited financial envelope of the project, it is not practicable to design the Probe to 'soft-land'. Survival may, nevertheless, be possible and this paper presents various impact-dynamics analysis methods and assesses the likely impact scenarios and their survivability. It is concluded that the Probe has a good chance of surviving to continue its scientific mission from the surface. The scientific information about the surface that could be gathered from impact-dynamics measurements is also discussed.