On January 14, 2005, the European Space Agency's Huygens probe separated from the Cassini spacecraft and landed on Saturn's moon, Titan. The touchdown on the surface of Titan marked the first, and so far only, landing of a man-made probe in the outer Solar System.

To mark the fifth anniversary of this remarkable event, scientists will gather from January 13-15 at the CosmoCaixa science museum in Barcelona, Spain, to review the key scientific and engineering achievements of Huygens, to evaluate the current understanding of Titan, and to consider future Titan exploration missions. The Huygens Probe — the ESA contribution to the joint ESA/NASA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission — carried six scientific instruments to perform measurements and obtain images as the probe descended through the Titan atmosphere, and to determine the physical properties of the surface at the impact site. The data returned from the Huygens instruments have provided a unique view of Titan. Now being analyzed and further interpreted in synergy with the global data obtained by Cassini's instruments, they continue to reveal Titan's unique place as a Solar System object resembling the Earth in many aspects.

A total of 26 Titan flybys are planned, of which 20 had been completed by the end of 2009. The remaining 6 will be carried out in 2010, the next one taking place on January 12th. The Huygens Legacy and Future Titan Exploration conference will be held at the CosmoCaixa science museum in Barcelona, Spain, and is organized around a series of introductory lectures, invited and contributed talks, and poster sessions. The conference is open to all; there is no conference fee but participants must register. A public event celebrating the landing of Huygens on Titan will be held on the afternoon/evening of January 14 in the Auditorium of the CosmoCaixa.