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Concept Aquatic Rover May Explore a Lake On Titan

Posted by Soulskill on from the also-may-not dept.

cylonlover writes "Titan is Saturn's largest moon, and it's said to be one of the most Earth-like celestial bodies in the Solar System. It has a thick atmosphere, and is covered with a network of seas, lakes and rivers – albeit ones made up of liquid hydrocarbons instead of water. Now, a team of scientists are proposing sending a boat-like probe to Titan, that would travel across its largest lake. The probe, which is still in the concept stage, is known as TALISE – that stands for Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer, although it's also an Iroquois word for 'beautiful water.' The plan calls for it to land in the middle of Ligeia Mare, which is near the moon's north pole. It would then set out on a six-month to one-year mission, taking scientific measurements and obtaining samples as it makes its way to the closest shore."

8 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. That would be very cool by Brad1138 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If they only get it done before I die (~40 years or so)

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    If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
    1. Re:That would be very cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      The previous proposed Titan floater mission (TiME) was rejected last month by NASA. Since this different design is being developed in Europe, I would assume they would pitch the idea to the ESA. There are two big problems: 1) the ESA doesn't have experience with RTGs and 2) the ESA doesn't have experience sending and controlling spacecraft to the outer planets. The best that they have done is the Huygens drop probe that was attached to Cassini and the ESA contribution to Ulysses. It is doable, but it would be extremely expensive since there is no in-house experience. Roskosmos isn't an option since they, like the ESA, have no RTG or outer planet exploration experience.

      Only a NASA partnership could get this done with a reasonable budget and NASA doesn't want to do it. In my opinion, this design is nice, but it isn't going to happen unless NASA gets a big budget boost.

  2. Re:This is not news for nerds or stuff that matter by boundary · · Score: 2

    I think we're unlikely to wake you. But not for the reason you think.

  3. Why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... don't we have a rover on the bottom of our own planets oceans?

  4. Not the first boat on Titan by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Europe-built Huygens probe that landed on Titan a few years ago was designed to float in case it had landed on liquid (solid land by luck of the draw). However, it only was designed for a very limited life-time in order to keep it small.

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    Table-ized A.I.
  5. Boat-like? by brisk0 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I suppose not every goal is finding extra-terrestrial life, but I almost feel like this is missing the real opportunity on Titan. This is a planet with both lakes of hydrocarbons and volcanic activity, theoretically perfect for life (admittedly neglecting H_2O). Surely a submarine would be more useful than a boat? Wouldn't we rather explore the depths and try to find primitive life where it is most likely to be created (by my admittedly limited understanding of abiogenesis theories)?

    1. Re:Boat-like? by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 2

      Maybe one day, but a boat is much easier to build and send to another planet than a submersible is. All a boat requires is a film and lighter-than-hydrocarbon gas, while a submersible requires pressure/liquid proofing, some ability to maintain neutral buoyancy, and some way to transmit information back through a medium thicker than the atmosphere.

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  6. TiME by Amiralul · · Score: 2

    A simillar mission was rejected from NASA funding plans a few weeks ago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Mare_Explorer