09-13-2017, 03:47 PM
HOTPE - good question.
No, the Huygens probe was not sterilized any more than any other probe we've sent. The reason for this is although scientists were aware of the (remote) possibility of contamination, it was thought the chances of life on Titan were so remote the precaution wasn't taken. It's only since the launch that the possibility of life there has been discovered to be more of a possibility, although still extremely remote. I'm sure any future missions will take more precautions.
In addition, the idea to destroy Cassini in Saturn's atmosphere was only taken relatively recently after people realized that chances of life in the system weren't as remote as previously thought. Ironically, this information came from the Cassini-Huygens mission itself!
No, the Huygens probe was not sterilized any more than any other probe we've sent. The reason for this is although scientists were aware of the (remote) possibility of contamination, it was thought the chances of life on Titan were so remote the precaution wasn't taken. It's only since the launch that the possibility of life there has been discovered to be more of a possibility, although still extremely remote. I'm sure any future missions will take more precautions.
In addition, the idea to destroy Cassini in Saturn's atmosphere was only taken relatively recently after people realized that chances of life in the system weren't as remote as previously thought. Ironically, this information came from the Cassini-Huygens mission itself!