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)