So I'm watching NASA TV; the first bits of Huygens' data are scheduled to arrive any second now. So many people are hitting the NASA TV feed here at the lab that labnet's feed for this channel is slowed down to unusable chop. So maybe I'll go watch it in the break room once the data starts arriving.

How amazing is this mission?? Never before have we done something so complicated and with so little knowledge of what we would get in return. The beacon on Huygens transmitted throughout the entry, descent, and landing sequence and continued to broadcast its health throughout the Cassini pass. The batteries lasted longer than predicted and apparently the lander survived landing and was in a "favorable" orientation upon touch[splash?]down. So the hard part is over and apparently went off without a hitch.

The question remaining, which will be answered in moments, is whether we can pull off the "easy" part - receiving the data on Cassini and storing it, then relaying it back to Earth. I am so excited for the outcome of the next few moments.