Category Archives: cassini

From Sea to Methane Sea

Titan Sea compared to Lake Superior on Earth
Titan Sea compared to Lake Superior on Earth

Woo-hoo! The Cassini spacecraft team released a radar image of what looks to be the largest body of liquid ever found on Titan’s surface. Titan, which orbits Saturn, is a chemically and geologically interesting world, and has been the subject of long-term study by the spacecraft since its arrival. The lake, which is likely made of liquid methane and/or ethane, covers about 100,000 square kilometers, which is larger than Lake Superior in the United States. Now, on Earth, seas are maintained through a constant cycle of water supply between the continents and water masses (the oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, etc.). Scientists think that on Titan, the same cycle is at work, but instead of water, the recycled material is methane (a hydrocarbon in great abundance in the outer solar system). And, there are more of these “seas” and lakes on Titan; so much so that the spacecraft teams are scheduling some additional radar studies of the surface to see them. Stay tuned!

Cassini Arrives at Saturn

Cassini shows us Saturn
Cassini shows us Saturn

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my first experience covering a planetary mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1981. It was Saturn, and in a great deja vu experience, 23 years later, I’m watching from the comfort of my home office while another mission prepares to explore Saturn in greater depth. It’s not nearly as heart-pounding (for me, anyway), but for the mission planners who have been waiting for 7 years for this moment, it is astoundingly exciting, the chance of a lifetime to study Saturn. The Saturn image here was taken a couple of days ago and it brings all those memories back… and entices us to imagine what the next months of exploration will bring us. Stay tuned!