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The Sierras of Titan

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the titans-of-titan dept.

eldavojohn writes "Cassini has detected the tallest mountains on Titan, a large moon of Saturn. More importantly, clouds have also been detected in Titan's atmosphere. Why is this news important? Well, as scientists scan the skies for the easiest piece of mass to colonize, things that resemble Earth's geology & atmosphere are going to require the least effort & resources. These mountains mean that Titan may have tectonic plate movement similar in some ways to earth's. From the article, '"You can think of Titan as the Earth in deep freeze," said Dr Rosaly Lopes, Cassini radar team member at the US space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It has a lot of the geological processes that Earth has. In fact, it is more Earth-like than anywhere else in the Solar System. But the surface is very cold; it's about minus 178C."'"

8 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Cold, and HOT too, right? by ScentCone · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The cold isn't the only thing that would-be colonists would be facing, right? Don't the gas giants have some helacious radiation belts? I seem to recall that Titan is sitting right in the middle of one, too. Perhaps a pro can chime in on that. Sure, we could warm up a nice little ice cave and whatnot, but would all that ice also be a worthy shield against the EM nastiness?

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  2. Ice mountains by bkg_cjb · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Right, there are mountains...ice mountains, not rock. I don't see what this "similarity" does for humans.

    --
    Adventures in Shaanxi
  3. Antarctica is a lot warmer by mi · · Score: 4, Insightful
    But the surface is very cold; it's about minus 178C.

    It is a lot warmer in Antarctica and the easy-to-reach place has plenty of oxygen and water. If we really are running out of room, the continent should be colonized first...

    Heck, if the "Global Warming" fear-mongering is even partially true, the continent will only become better — and it already is much better than any extra-terrestrial body.

    That no settlements (as in "villages", not science labs) exist even on this much more habitable place is just a sign, how far off space colonization really is... I think, some South America's country(ies) tried to pay people to live there (just to claim territory, pretty much), but it still failed...

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    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:Antarctica is a lot warmer by geekoid · · Score: 2, Insightful

      IT's also protected by treaty.
      And having the area around you melt away why trying to ahve a regular town is not a good thing.
      Yes I KNOW there is land undernither, I'm talking about the ice bits.

      Putting humans off planet help give a chance for the species to survive and thrive.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  4. Earth in deep freeze... by misleb · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Whenever someone brings up colonizing another planet, I can't help but wonder "why?" Yes, there is the novelty factor of being able to do it. But how practical is it? What is the objective? Would we do it to preserve the species? From what? An asteriod hitting Earth and turning it into a wasteland? Could Earth possibly be any worse than Titan... or even Mars... in that case?

    Think about it. What is the best Earth alternative we could realistically hope to find?

    Want to colonize "Earth in Deep Freeze?" Antarctica isn't too far away. If nothing else, it has plenty of water and even oil. And if Global Warming gets as bad as some fear it might, Antarctica might not end up being such a bad place! Or what about colonizing the bottom on the ocean? Certainly that would be easier than traveling half way across the solar system... or farther.

    Seems to me that Earth would have to be all but vaporized for it to be much worse than any place you could find in outer space.

    -matthew

    --
    "THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
    1. Re:Earth in deep freeze... by Itchyeyes · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I imagine a lot of the same questions were asked when we first started the space program. "Why even go into space?" I mean, it's just a vast nothingness right? There are plenty of place on earth that remain to be explored, like deep oceans and the rain forests."

      50 years later we have massive improvements in telecommunications, accurate weather forecasting, GPS, major breakthroughs in solar power, and a whole host of other new technologies that we discovered along the way. As with most science, you don't really know the full implications of something until after you've discovered it. Uncertainty doesn't always mean that a risk isn't worth taking.

  5. Space Shuttle @ Station by stevesliva · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In other news, they're troubleshooting a flaky solar panel up on the space station: Live status

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    Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
  6. Um....wha? by argStyopa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Well, as scientists scan the skies for the easiest piece of mass to colonize, things that resemble Earth's geology & atmosphere are going to require the least effort & resources."

    That's a rather meaningless (or outright WRONG) statement.

    Mars: tectonically dead or nearly so. Dust storms but no real analogue to Earthly seas, precipitation, or geological processes. Ability to colonize? Relatively easy.

    Titan: mountains, clouds, precipitation, "seas", etc. Ability to colonize? Extremely difficult.

    Similarity to Earthly processes is meaningless. There are plenty of Earthly processes that make things HARDER, not easier.

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    -Styopa