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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Titan, a new Earth-like world
The atmosphere of Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, appears similar to that on Earth about 3.5 billions years ago before life appeared.
After a seven-year journey on board the Cassini spacecraft, ESA’s Huygens probe reached Titan’s surface, marking the most distant landing ever achieved by a spacecraft. During the descent its cameras collected data on the dense atmosphere and took the first ever images of the surface.
These revealed an extraordinary world with lakes, islands and signs of erosion similar to those that shape our planet, confirming that liquid methane once flowed there. Methane on Titan is found in liquid form and not as a gas due to the intense pressure and cold temperatures, about –180° C.
For more information on this Cassini-Huygens image, please click on the following link: Titan’s surface, Huygens.