January 23, 2005 - Huygens, the European Space Agency (ESA) probe of Titan, has recently sent back spectacular digital images of this largest moon of Saturn. Huygens flew to Saturn as part of the joint Cassini-Huygens mission with the objective of increasing our knowledge base of the sixth planet and its moon. The CCD sensor on the Descent Imaging - Spectral Radiometer (DISR), which landed on January 14, 2005,  has provided images that suggest the environment of Titan has some striking similarities to that of Earth. The image shown below is a mosaic of three images from the Fairchild Imaging 512 x 256 pixel frame-transfer CCD. The ridges and deep cuts suggest the presence of rivers at some time on Titan.

In addition to the CCD on the Huygens' DISR, Fairchild Imaging designed and developed the focal plane arrays for the Cassini’s Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) wide angle and narrow angle cameras as well as the FPA for the Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). These space-qualified CCDs are a critical component in each of the instruments. The Fairchild Imaging CCDs on the ISS are space-qualified detectors with 1024 x 1024, 12µm pixels. These full frame CCDs are coated with lumogen to improve UV sensitivity. Those on the VIMS and the DISR are 512 x 256 frame-transfer CCDs coated with lumogen and spectral order sorting filters.

To learn more about the Cassini-Huygens mission please refer to: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/index.html

For more information, contact William Walker, VP-Sales and Marketing, at Fairchild Imaging, 1801 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, CA 95035, 408-433-2534, William.walker@fcimg.com, Fairchild Imaging.

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About Fairchild Imaging
Fairchild Imaging is a manufacturer and developer of electronic imaging components and systems. Located in Milpitas, CA, Fairchild Imaging is a privately held corporation whose major investors include The Carlyle Group, BAE Systems, and management. Information about Fairchild Imaging is available on the worldwide Web at www.fairchildimaging.com.