Category Archives: weather

Homesteading on Titan

Spacewriters homestead
Spacewriter's homestead

I suppose it’s fitting that during the week of major discoveries on cold, methane/ethane-slushy Titan that a snowstorm would arrive to remind us of winter cold here on Earth. However, what some of us are experiencing in the snowstorm currently enveloping the New England area of the U.S. would be a balmy day on Mars and a downright searing heat wave on Titan! Imagine the report from The Weather Channel(tm) if we lived on Titan:

Folks out near Dragon’s Head are well advised to stay inside for the rest of the day, as a strong cold front is bringing methane flurries. Temperatures could plunge to -183 Celsius, with wind chills making it feel like -190. Watch out for lake-effect accumulations around the shores of Snowy Sea. And people, if you don’t have to be out, we advise you stay in and stay warm!

It’s kinda fun to think about “extreme” weather on other planets and how we’d deal with it if we lived there. Of course, life on Titan (for humans) would be a challenge of major proportions. Just how would we build habitats? Out of what? And why would anybody want to live there? There’s another good science fiction story there, just waiting to be written!