Or so guests were told at the start of our new year lecture. However, this did not stop almost 300 people filling the largest lecture hall in Trinity College to listen to Professor John Zarnecki, probably the most famous space scientist in the world.

But none of these could compare to the Cassini-Huygens mission which resulted in the furthest ever moon landing in human history.

The audience were held spellbound by the breathtaking 3D images and videos of Huygens' descent through Titan's thick atmosphere into the vast frozen icebound landscape and seas of liquid methane. Up until the landing, nothing was known about Titan other than its freezing temperature of -190 degrees Celsius and its significant methane content. However, the world that was uncovered by Huygens was an "Earth in deep freeze", a freezing moon etched with channels and a 70km thick crust of ice with a hidden ocean beneath. Professor Zarnecki summed up Titan as "Earth-like and alien at the same time".

The lecture finished with the future missions Professor Zarnecki will be involved with, including the European mission Exo-Mars which eventually aims to put a lander on the surface of Mars, and the possibilities for various missions aiming towards the eventual settlement of man on Mars. He admitted himself it sounds "a little like science fiction" but added that it is "no more fanciful than talking about Cassini 25 years ago". No doubt everyone is excited about Professor Zarnecki's future missions and the discoveries he will make about our solar system.

Photo: Lar Keogh	Photo: Lar Keogh
Photo: Lar Keogh	Photo: Lar Keogh
Photo: Lar Keogh	Photo: Lar Keogh