For a space geek like me, watching the images come in yesterday from Saturn's moon, Titan, was nothing short of breathtaking. The 360o montage that was pasted together by the European Space Operations Centre really gives an unworldly sense that there's something worth exploring beyond the barriers of our own blue marble in space.
It took the probe that landed on Titan seven long years to reach its destination. Think about that for a moment. Think about the technology that was available when Titan was designed, probably 10 years ago. And now from 750 million miles away, we get images that look (to me) like I'd see out of the window of an airplane descending over Lake Meade into Las Vegas.
With all of the crap that we bitch about on both sides of the political spectrum, the rousing success of the 9 foot diameter "wok" shaped spacecraft, Huygens, drifting slowly down onto the surface of Titan is an example of what mankind can do in the spirit of cooperation. The mission was a joint effort between many countries, and the end result speaks for itself.
And I won't even harp today about Halliburton scrambling to nail down the methane gas export rights from Titan. I'm still too awestruck.
