Cassini-Huygens - Cassini-Huygens Discussion

REB · 2004-10-20 12:13:59

Cindy, I don't look at Titan as a world to be terraformed, but it is a world with that has both an alien and Earth-Like environment. It has an Earth-like atmosphere, but it might have methane ocean, lakes rivers, rain and snow.

I would like to see Titan’s smog cleared so that Saturn could be viewed from the surface.

I think the Saturn/Titan system is a double planet system.

Stu · 2004-10-20 12:53:47

Anyone with any interest in Titan should definitely read Stephen Baxter's superb novel "TITAN", which tells the story of a manned mission to Titan using cannibalised shuttle and Saturn V technology. The descriptions of Titan's surface are breathtaking.

Shaun Barrett · 2004-10-20 17:33:29

Thanks for the tip, Stu. I'll keep a look-out for that book, "Titan".

Saturn itself is a breath-taking planet to behold; it's sheer size alone is without doubt awe-inspiring. And I think its massive presence has been communicated to us very effectively by Cassini.
The ferocity of Saturn's winds is a mystery I'm certainly interested to hear more about. As I understand it, no one knows for sure where all the energy is coming from.
The ring system is drop-dead gorgeous. If you believed in God, you'd have to conclude She had a soft spot for Saturn and put extra creative effort into the decor!
And, in a sense, an interest in the moons of Saturn is inseparable from an interest in its rings, since the structure and form of the rings are influenced so much by the moons themselves.

Having said all that, though, I think what attracts me to Titan more than anything else is what REB mentioned about it. It's somewhere we could definitely go to, land on, and explore .. but that's all.
I admit I'm strongly pro-terraforming when it comes to Mars but that sentiment doesn't stretch to terraforming Titan. Not that I have any aesthetic objections to doing so; I think it would be great to have another habitable world out among the gas giants of the solar system, but Titan's surface gravity is too weak. The reason it holds on to such a massive 1.4 bar atmosphere is because it's in a -200 deg.C deep freeze and its 'air' molecules haven't the kinetic energy to escape. Without wishing to engage in a debate about using futuristic super-technology to 'force' habitability on Titan, I just don't see it as a practical proposition.
I think Titan should be left as the cryogenic wonderland it probably is - though that doesn't mean I don't want to go there and walk on its searingly-cold and alien surface!

Palomar · 2004-10-21 05:52:25

Anyone with any interest in Titan should definitely read Stephen Baxter's superb novel "TITAN", which tells the story of a manned mission to Titan using cannibalised shuttle and Saturn V technology. The descriptions of Titan's surface are breathtaking.

http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/imag … ml]Results of fluid instability

*Haven't read that novel. I don't read much sci-fi, to be honest (actually I don't read much fiction at all). Anyway, I thought perhaps he'd also written a novel about a journey to Saturn that I've seen on the shelves, but nope...that was Ben Bova, according to amazon.com. I might purchase it; keeps coming to mind. Has anyone read Bova's novel about Saturn?

Also saw a title called Lifting Titan's Veil, by Lorenz.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-10-21 07:52:03

This article gets into the atmosphere, temperature and much more that maybe revealed by the on board radar imaging system. The last attempts were with the voyager missions back in 80, 81.

Craft to probe Saturn moon's secrets

http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn....00.html

Palomar · 2004-10-21 10:35:59

*SpaceNut, this is a good article in conjunction with the one you posted earlier today:

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … 04]Huygens Will Listen for Thunderstorms

"One of the six scientific instruments on board the European Space Agency's Huygens probe is a tiny microphone designed to help scientists listen for lightning strikes as the spacecraft descends through the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan...If Huygens actually passes through a storm, the microphone should actually be able to pick up the sound of liquid methane rain splashing against the spacecraft's casing.

The sound of alien thunder, the patter of methane rain and the crunch (or splash) of a landing, all might be heard as Huygens descends to the surface of Titan on 14 January 2005.

What’s more, they will be recorded by a microphone on the probe and relayed back so that everyone on Earth can hear the sounds of Titan."

:band:

--Cindy :up:

***
::EDIT:: "In fact, a second microphone experiment can also be found on Huygens. It is part of the Surface Science Package (SSP) and contributes to an experiment to measure the speed of sound in Titan’s atmosphere."

SpaceNut: I just now read your comment below. Good song.

SpaceNut · 2004-10-21 11:02:36

Kind of reminds me of how the song Riders of the storm starts out. Thunder crashing, the rain a falling and will be worth the wait to hear it.

Palomar · 2004-10-22 06:09:08

*Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem has been busy as a bee. Has made movies of Saturn's rings and diffuse ring images, performed a global color map of Iapetus (that moon is getting quite a bit of attention recently), working to determine orbits of small satellites, Phoebe spectrophotometry.

Observation of the B ring occulting a star was made with the UVIS instrument (Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph).

There are also 3 other references to Iapetus in http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-04zzzl.html]this article.

Cassini functioning fine, Titan flyby should go well.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2004-10-23 05:55:16

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 96]Cassini Titan Flyby Mission Description

*Nice resource; detailed yet brief. :up:

-*-

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=14293]Day and Night on Hyperion

"The spacecraft is slated to fly past the little moon at an altitude of less than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in late 2005, compared with a distance of 5.9 million kilometers (3.7 million miles) between Hyperion and Cassini when this image was taken."

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-10-23 07:52:25

I didn't realise this Titan flyby would reveal so much so quickly; our knowledge of Titan should increase by an order of magnitude at least.
Marvellous!

Adrian · 2004-10-24 10:19:02

Thread closed since it's getting pretty big - please continue discussion in Cassini-Huygens 2.

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