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#1 2020-09-02 08:47:29

tahanson43206
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Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,760

Titan Submarine

The Unmanned probes topic does not appear to have a subtopic about Titan ...

Today's news feed included this article:

https://www.space.com/saturn-moon-titan … ssion.html

The journey to Saturn takes about seven years, so a Titan sub mission of any type would need to launch in the 2030s (unless we want to wait another three decades for the seasons to shift again).

That timeline "would be fine with us — to be able to get this ready in the next decade to push there," Oleson said.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

The article includes some detail about alternatives under consideration.  This could be a "flagship" project, or something less.


(th)

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#2 2020-09-02 19:26:37

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Titan Submarine

Outer Planets Flagship mission (OPF)

miniature submarine to probe the methane lakes on Saturn's moon Titan.

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#3 2020-09-02 20:53:43

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Titan Submarine

tahanson43206 wrote:

One saving grace is that the competition for funding means the Titan probe may ** not ** be a flagship mission.

The article lays out some alternatives that might allow a reasonably productive mission to be funded at a lower level.

One detail is that the size of the submarine could be reduced substantially by including an orbiter in the mission plan.  If there is no orbiter, (to take care of communication with Earth), the submarine could handle communications from below the surface, but it would have to be much larger.

(th)

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#4 2020-09-02 21:00:01

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Titan Submarine

A sub will require nuclear power as you can not go into a liquid and expect it to work for any size solar. So the question becomes one of size wattage to mass longevity of the power system to the remaining mass delivered to Titan for the sub.
The Europa moon mission is a simular but different sub use.

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#5 2020-09-03 07:36:40

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,760

Re: Titan Submarine

For SpaceNut re #4

The external environment in which the Titan sub would be operating would serve admirably as a heat sink for any nuclear fission power plant that might be specified for the vehicle.

As you noted in post #4, the article from Space.com does confirm that "All versions of a Titan sea explorer would be nuclear-powered"

This could be an opportunity for designers to step up the power output of their nuclear power system, if their funds can support it.

The work underway by NASA (as commented upon frequently in this forum) might flow naturally into a vehicle design.

However, I am doubtful a 1 KW output is anywhere near sufficient for this application. 

The vehicle has to maintain its own internal temperature while maintaining communication with Earth (if not orbiter) or with the orbiter if there is one, and while performing navigation and data collection.

(th)

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#6 2020-09-03 17:48:13

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Titan Submarine

The current unit named KRUSTY which is design at 10kwatts and is a molten salt heat pipe cooling design.

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#7 2020-09-03 18:24:10

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,760

Re: Titan Submarine

For SpaceNut re #6

Thanks for the reminder of the project name ...

It appears that the system under development can deliver between 1 Kw and 10 KW.

The article at the link below is from an entire issue of a newsletter from a national lab, devoted to KRUSTY.

https://www.lanl.gov/discover/news-stor … y-test.php

The KRUSTY test successfully demonstrated the efficiency of Kilopower fission power for lunar and planetary exploration

An entire issue of Nuclear Technology journal has been dedicated to the design work and results of the Kilowatt Reactor Using Sterling TechnologY (KRUSTY) test.

KRUSTY was the culmination of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kilopower Project to design, build, and test a space nuclear reactor. This test was the first such test since the end of the Space Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) project at the end of the 1960s.

The Laboratory—in conjunction with NASA and DOE—conducted numerous experiments to test the Kilopower system, a fission reaction power system designed at Los Alamos in conjunction with NASA. Designed to provide between 1 and 10 kilowatts of power, Kilopower can work in harsh environments, such as space, and is efficient, reliable, safe, low cost, and compact.

(th)

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#8 2022-04-14 17:36:51

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,903

Re: Titan Submarine

Although Titan is a Moon it is so unique larger than the planet Mercury it is often looked as like a planet, frequently described as a planet-like moon.

Methane holds the key to finding alien life, claim scientists

https://metro.co.uk/2022/03/29/methane- … -16359651/

Sounds in space: What noises do planets make?

https://www.space.com/sounds-in-space

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-04-25 14:40:35)

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#9 2022-04-25 14:40:47

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,903

Re: Titan Submarine

Stanford scientist models landscape formation on Titan, revealing an Earth-like alien world

https://news.stanford.edu/2022/04/25/sc … ion-titan/

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