The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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This technical sketch illustrates the radio signals emitted by the Huygens probe from Titan's surface after touch down on 14 January 2005. The probe survived the impact and continued to transmit to the Cassini mothership, orbiting above. Part of that radio signal ‘leaked’ downwards and hit the surface of Titan before being reflected back up to Cassini. On its way up, it interfered with the direct beam. Thanks to this 'multipath' phenomena related to the Huygens radio signal, it has been possible to deduce that the surface swathe must be relatively flat and covered mostly in stones of around 5-10 centimetres in diameter.