Tag Archives: titan

Dragonfly: Quadcopter on Titan

After the recent rocket launch in preparation for the Artemis mission, I decided to look into the other space exploration projects currently underway. One that stuck out to me is the Dragonfly mission. After the landing of Huygens, a space probe sent from Cassini, in 2005, astronomers have desired a more advanced exploration of Titan. […] Continue reading

Posted in Instruments, Moons, Space Travel | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Dragonfly: Quadcopter on Titan

Titan

Titan is Saturn’s largest moon and the second largest moon in the solar system behind Ganymede. It is shrouded in a thick, yellow atmosphere and has standing bodies of liquid on its surface. It is the only place besides Earth(that we know of) that has an atmospheric cycle of precipitation and evaporation. One day on […] Continue reading

Posted in Moons | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Titan

Findings of The Cassini Spacecraft

On October 15th, 1997, the rocket carrying the Cassini Spacecraft and its Huygens probe took off from Cape Canaveral. It was sent to the outer solar system to study Saturn, as well as its moons. The Huygens probe was deployed to one of these moons, Titan, recording images and data. In 2017, after running out […] Continue reading

Posted in Class, Jovians, Moons | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Findings of The Cassini Spacecraft

Tides on Titan

As we learned in class, different celestial bodies can have varying tidal forces depending on their masses in relation to the object of interest. This phenomenon was mainly explored by the tidal forces on the Earth by the Moon and the Sun. In order to calculate the gravitational forces between two objects, we utilized the […] Continue reading

Posted in Physics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Tides on Titan

Living on Titan

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. It is an icy world with an atmosphere thicker and denser than Earth’s (1.5 times the atmospheric pressure of Earth) that has clouds of smog that coat it in a large, cloudy golden haze. So how could scientists think it could be a habitable substitute for Earth forContinue reading “Living on Titan” Continue reading

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Living on Titan

The Oddities of Titan

Titan is one of 62 moons revolving around Saturn. Before 2004, not much was known about Titan, other than the fact that it is Saturn’s largest moon. NASA sent the Cassini spacecraft to the outer to investigate and send back information about Titan. Cassini sent back pictures of a very planet-like moon with a denseContinue reading “The Oddities of Titan” Continue reading

Posted in Moons | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Oddities of Titan

The Cassini Spacecraft and Huygens Probe

NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft, launched in 1997, flew by Venus and Earth’s Moon, through the Asteroid belt, and near Jupiter until it settled in the Saturn Planetary System for thirteen years. This was a historical mission for multiple reasons. Not only was it the first to orbit Saturn, but the Huygens Probe it carried was theContinue reading “The Cassini Spacecraft and Huygens Probe” Continue reading

Posted in Class, Jovians, Space Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Cassini Spacecraft and Huygens Probe

Living on Titan?

Could human beings inhabit Titan, one of Saturn’s moons? Titan is one of the least hostile places for humans in the outer solar system. Titan has liquid methane lakes and oceans on its surface, and even has weather. Titan’s atmosphere is very dense – 95% nitrogen and 5% methane. The gravity on Titan is slightlyContinue reading “Living on Titan?” Continue reading

Posted in Class, Universe | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Living on Titan?

Sirens of Titan

The lectures from this unit, especially chapter 11 about the Jovian planets, reminded me of one of my favorite books; Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. The novel is a comical science fiction story that chronicles the origin of Malachi Constant, a profit predestined to be sent into space and return to start a newContinue reading “Sirens of Titan” Continue reading

Posted in Class | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Sirens of Titan

Big Planets’ Moons and Life Outside “Habitability”

Astrobiology has long relied on the concept of a “habitable zone”, that is a zone around a star that is the right distance from said star to hold liquid water, and therefore life. This concept is absolutely valuable, especially insofar as it allows us to classify new exoplanets and identify potential exoplanets that may hostContinue reading “Big Planets’ Moons and Life Outside “Habitability”” Continue reading

Posted in Aliens, Class, Jovians, Moons | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Big Planets’ Moons and Life Outside “Habitability”