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Cassini Finds Evidence For Ocean Inside Titan
Riding with Robots writes "NASA reports that by using data from the Cassini probe's radar, scientists established the locations of 50 unique landmarks on the surface of Saturn's planet-size moon Titan. They then searched for these same lakes, canyons and mountains in the data after subsequent Titan flybys. They found that the features had shifted from their expected positions by up to 30 kilometers. NASA says a systematic displacement of surface features would be difficult to explain unless the moon's icy crust was decoupled from its core by an internal ocean, making it easier for the crust to move. If confirmed, this discovery would add to the growing list of moons in the solar system that are icy on the outside and warm and liquid inside, providing potential habitats. We've previously discussed Titan's hydrocarbon lakes and potential cryovolcano."
I suspect I was not alone.
So now there's Europa and now Titan that have probable underground oceans, and oceans seem like good candidates for life.
It would be interesting, if in the future, we find that most life actually forms on moons with oceans protected from the vaccum of space.
Maybe out planet, with it's skin lain bare to the cosmos, is an exception for a life-harboring world. Maybe this is why we haven't heard from any other intelligent lifeforms; perhaps they all have severe agoraphobia and just freak-out when they send their first probes up through the surface.
Let's hope the wouldn't suffer from the Krikkit xenophobic mindset, or we might be finding out exactly how good we humans are at international...er, interplanetary negotiations...oh my, I certainly hope we don't have to find out!
Read my Very Short "Stories"
It is still correct to say that it would be interesting to send a probe into it, though.
"but it was not designed to look for an underwater ocean"
Well if you know how to design such a thing I think you could patent it an NOBODY on slashdot would complain about this patent.