Catskul writes "Telescopes atop Mauna Kea have recorded for the first time clouds floating over Saturn's biggest moon. Astronomers used telescopes at the Keck and Gemini observatories atop the dormant volcano on the Big Island to photograph methane clouds near the south pole of the moon Titan."
-- "Moderate drinking can help prevent amputated limbs" -- Abigail Zuger, NYTimes, 12/31/02
...could not support life...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
> The distant moon could not support life. It has an atmosphere of methane, ethane and hydrogen cyanide with no oxygen. It would also be too cold: minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface.
Why, why, why, do they always do this? It should say "could not support life AS WE KNOW IT."
"The cloud observations are based on views from atop Mauna Kea in late 2001 and earlier this year. Titan, one of 30 moons orbiting Saturday, is a little less than half the size of Earth, and much larger than Earth's moon."
Saturday? Man, somebody needs a better proofreader.
--
Ed R.Zahurak
You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.
Saturday? Man, somebody needs a better proofreader.
No, it's quite true. Titan was indeed one of 30 moons orbiting Saturday. It was also orbiting on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Perhaps you should familiarise yourself with Cassini-Huygens
If it takes 6 years to get there, you want to be able to do as much as possible, rather then do the equivilant of 'You know, we should have brought that metric set of spanners' when you get there.
Cheap, low cost is OK for scouting and test missions, where the turnaround time is short. Say the Moon, Mars, Venus and testing engine designs
Saturn is a bloody long way away. Cassini is the orbiter, and Huygens is going to go way beyond 'Pretty Picutres' - it's going to enter Titan's atmosphere, land in the ocean and perform spectral analysis on anything it can find.
Low Cost is a waste of time here - you want it to work first time, keep working and not break, otherwise it'll be 10 years before we build another one and get back there.
I see no reason at all to 'Scoot around taking pictures' - Been ThereDone That. Let's try something new and risky for a change.
Slashdot Mirror
I guess there are a lot of cows farting on Titan.
Ok fine. That was stupid.
"Moderate drinking can help prevent amputated limbs" -- Abigail Zuger, NYTimes, 12/31/02
Why, why, why, do they always do this? It should say "could not support life AS WE KNOW IT."
"The cloud observations are based on views from atop Mauna Kea in late 2001 and earlier this year. Titan, one of 30 moons orbiting Saturday, is a little less than half the size of Earth, and much larger than Earth's moon."
Saturday? Man, somebody needs a better proofreader.
Ed R.Zahurak
You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.
Perhaps you should familiarise yourself with Cassini-Huygens
If it takes 6 years to get there, you want to be able to do as much as possible, rather then do the equivilant of 'You know, we should have brought that metric set of spanners' when you get there.
Cheap, low cost is OK for scouting and test missions, where the turnaround time is short. Say the Moon, Mars, Venus and testing engine designs
Saturn is a bloody long way away. Cassini is the orbiter, and Huygens is going to go way beyond 'Pretty Picutres' - it's going to enter Titan's atmosphere, land in the ocean and perform spectral analysis on anything it can find.
Low Cost is a waste of time here - you want it to work first time, keep working and not break, otherwise it'll be 10 years before we build another one and get back there.
I see no reason at all to 'Scoot around taking pictures' - Been There Done That. Let's try something new and risky for a change.