The only surface image of Titan, a Saturn moon. , page 4
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reply posted on 20-12-2011 @ 02:51 PM by Illustronic
Originally posted by blocula
reply to
post by Soylent Green Is People

According to this link,its too cold on titan for methane to exist,its 290 below zero!,but theres acetylene, ethylene,ethane and maybe hydrogen cyanide... How is that probe able to function at those low temperatures? www.solarviews.com...

edit on 20-12-2011 by blocula because: (no reason given)


Like all space probes launched to the outer solar system, radioisotope thermoelectric generators or RTGs, which use heat from the natural decay of plutonium to generate direct current electricity. Solar power out to Saturn was out of the question, the solar arrays would have to be too large to launch.

Here's a more indepth link than the ESA home for the instraments and power source of the Cassini-Huygens spacecrafts.

Methane melting point, -182.5 °C, -296.5 ºF. Boiling point, -161.6 °C -258.88 ºF.
Gases

Liquid methane has been discussed and detected on outer bodies for years, I doubt they would get the temperature wrong.

More about liquid methane.


reply posted on 20-12-2011 @ 03:05 PM by Soylent Green Is People
Originally posted by blocula

According to this link,its too cold on titan for methane to exist,its 290 below zero!,but theres acetylene, ethylene,ethane and maybe hydrogen cyanide...


Your source is old; it was written prior to Cassini-Huygens arrival at Saturn and Titan. Cassini-Huygens confirmed the presence of liquid methane lakes.

The information in your source used earth-based observations and the observations made by the Pioneer 11 and the Voyager spacecraft as they did a very quick fly-by of Saturn and Titan. They only got to look at Titan for a few hours. The Cassini spacecraft is in orbit around the Saturn system and can gather more detailed information. The Huygens probe landed on Titan and was able to gather detailed atmospheric information.


How is that probe able to function at those low temperatures?

The actual lander only survived for about an hour, which was about twice as long as it was nominally designed to survive, but as usual for many space probes, it outlived its nominal mission length.

As for how a space probe can survive the cold of space, most space probes have built-in heat sources to keep them operating in the cold of space. The Huygens probe (the name of the Titan lander) was very small and relatively simple and only had enough battery power to stay warm and operating for that short period of time. Huygen's parent spacecraft (the Cassini Orbiter) uses a nuclear power source called a "Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator" (RTG), which uses plutonium to create enough heat to generate the electrical power needed to operate it and keep it warm, even when not in sunlight, or in the dimness of the sun near Saturn.

The two Voyager spacecraft are still going after almost 35 years in space -- most of that in the depths of the solar system. The Voyagers also have RTGs that are able keep them operational and warm even though they are approaching the edge of our solar system. It's estimated that Voyagers' RTGs will be able to provide adequate operational power for at least another 15 years.

edit on 12/20/2011 by Soylent Green Is People because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 20-12-2011 @ 06:42 PM by blocula
reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

Thanx for your reply and the information you provided...

My car has trouble running as soon as the outside temperature reaches 0 fahrenheit,at around 20 below zero fahrenheit my car has trouble even starting,all fluids in my car would freeze solid at around 100 below zero fahrenheit...

Titan is around 290 below fahrenheit,seems to me that no mechanical machine would be able to function at all,once it was placed within those extremely low temperatures.Should'nt all parts of the probe very quickly freeze solid and just crumble and shatter as soon as it tried to move or do anything? Like those roses you see people taking out of deep freezing temperatures,then breaking them like glass?

For comparison,the coldest temperature ever recorded on earth is 129 below zero fahrenheit...

edit on 20-12-2011 by blocula because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 20-12-2011 @ 07:05 PM by Illustronic
reply to post by blocula



That's why they don't send automobiles to deep space, they spend a decade or more to design and develop deep spacecrafts and it costs more than a car. I also don't think metal shatters like a rose when it gets cold, metal is a mineral, a rose is a biological life form, with a large percentage being water.


reply posted on 20-12-2011 @ 11:39 PM by blocula
reply to post by Illustronic

Omg...Imagine what saturn would look like from the surface of titan! if the sky was clear like earths,it would be totally mind blowing and beautiful.Would'nt saturn be visible all day long if you were on the surface of titan with a clear sky view? and i think the rings would stretch from horizon to horizon.Imagine the rings at a full side view,what that would look like...

edit on 20-12-2011 by blocula because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 21-12-2011 @ 01:22 AM by wingsfan
reply to post by Illustronic



thank you guys for the links. yeah I'm well aware surface views from space are not possible, but I just like seeing new photos of titan. and IMO cassini has been getting exceptional pictures lately.


reply posted on 21-12-2011 @ 05:23 AM by Illustronic
reply to post by blocula



I saw a simulation of what planets would look like from earth if they traded places with our moon, approximate a quarter million miles away. It wasn't a very slick simulation but the person did the math well. When Jupiter entered the simulation I believe it eventually filled near half of the sky view. No doubt Saturn would be an impressive sky body from Titan but Titan is 320% further away from Saturn as our moon is from earth.

Ah yes a simple Google search located it.

Click here, its not on Youtube.

Please read the author's note about his scaled simulation.


reply posted on 21-12-2011 @ 09:47 AM by Soylent Green Is People
reply to post by blocula



Here are a few artist depictions, although I wonder how well Saturn would be seen through Titan's hazy sky.

img5.visualizeus.com...
astronomy-news.net...
www.ciclops.org...


In the link below is one painted in 1944 (the link says 1948, but it is actually from 1944). As the link says, this is a very famous painting among the "space art" crowd, and even somewhat among the general population. This was made prior to the knowing that Titan is shrouded in a haze, so the sky is too clear. Even considering the inaccuracy of the crystal clear sky, it's a beautiful painting, nevertheless:

www.novaspaceart.com...

The artist (Chelsey Bonestell) was so famous for this painting and other space art in the 1940s and 1950s -- many of which appeared in "LIFE" magazine, and seen by millions of people -- that there is a crater on Mars named after him, plus an asteroid named in his honor.

edit on 12/21/2011 by Soylent Green Is People because: (no reason given)




reply posted on 21-12-2011 @ 10:30 AM by Illustronic
I always like the space art by John Berkey.

I don't think he simulated Saturn viewed from Titan, but an excellent illustrator/painter, and an inventive mind.

Also an ex-GM designer, Syd Mead created cool images of the future.
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