The Huygens Doppler Wind Experiment

A Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE) will be performed during the Titan atmospheric descent of the ESA Huygens Probe. The direction and strength of Titan’s zonal winds will be determined with an accuracy better than 1 m s−1 from the start of mission at an altitude of ~ 160 km down to the surface. The Probe’s wind-induced horizontal motion will be derived from the residual Doppler shift of its S-band radio link to the Cassini Orbiter, corrected for all known orbit and propagation effects. It is also planned to record the frequency of the Probe signal using large ground-based antennas, thereby providing an additional component of the horizontal drift. In addition to the winds, DWE will obtain valuable information on the rotation, parachute swing and atmospheric buffeting of the Huygens Probe, as well as its position and attitude after Titan touchdown. The DWE measurement strategy relies on experimenter-supplied Ultra-Stable Oscillators to generate the transmitted signal from the Probe and to extract the frequency of the received signal on the Orbiter. Results of the first in-flight checkout, as well as the DWE Doppler calibrations conducted with simulated Huygens signals uplinked from ground (Probe Relay Tests), are described. Ongoing efforts to measure and model Titan’s winds using various Earth-based techniques are briefly reviewed.