By the time we will be able to make regular runs to the Saturn system, we will very likely not be so heavily reliant on fossil fuels. However, we may want to refine our hydrocarbon feedstocks en route.
Posted on 07/24/2006 6:56:41 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Scientists said Monday they have found the first widespread evidence of giant hydrocarbon lakes on the surface of Saturn's planet-size moon Titan.
The cluster of hydrocarbon lakes was spotted near Titan's frigid north pole during a weekend flyby by the international Cassini spacecraft, which flew within 590 miles of the moon.
Researchers counted about a dozen lakes ranging from 6 miles to 62 miles wide. Some lakes, which appeared as dark patches in radar images, were connected by channels while others had tributaries flowing into them. Several were dried up, but the ones that contained liquid were most likely a mix of methane and ethane.
"It was a real potpourri," said Cassini scientist Jonathan Lunine of the University of Arizona.
Titan is one of two moons in the solar system known to possess a significant atmosphere similar to primordial Earth. But scientists have long puzzled over the source of its hazy atmosphere rich in nitrogen and methane.
Scientists believe methane gas breaks up in Titan's atmosphere and forms smog clouds that then rain methane down to the surface. But the source of methane inside the moon, which is releasing the gas into the atmosphere is still unknown, Lunine said.
Last year, Cassini found what appeared to be a liquid hydrocarbon lake about the size of Lake Ontario on Titan's south pole. But the recent flyby marked the first time the spacecraft spied a multitude of lakes.
Cassini's next Titan encounter will be Sept. 7 when it will be 620 miles away.
Cassini, funded by NASA and the European and Italian space agencies, was launched in 1997 and took seven years to reach Saturn to explore the ringed planet and its numerous moons. The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
Cassini's accompanying probe, Huygens, developed and controlled by the ESA, touched down on Titan in 2005.
Every planet with an atmosphere seems to have lightening, but Titan has no oxygen
By the time we will be able to make regular runs to the Saturn system, we will very likely not be so heavily reliant on fossil fuels. However, we may want to refine our hydrocarbon feedstocks en route.
We're already pushing the benevolence of Nature by allowing 40,000 tons of interplanetary dust to accumulate on earth every year. Until the mass balance problem is addressed we should not import oil from Titan.
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