NASA has given the green light for the nuclear-powered v rotorcraft to explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Approval for the 2028 interplanetary mission comes after years of delay due to COVID-19 and a series of cost overruns.
A study shows the subsurface ocean of Titan—the largest moon of Saturn—is most likely a non-habitable environment, meaning any hope of finding life in the icy world is dead in the water.
On new recently released NASA images show the moons of Saturn in all their glory, as if they came straight out of the pages of science fiction.
Compared to most places you might wander in the Solar System, Titan, the giant moon of Saturn, is in many ways strangely familiar to Earth.
Kraken Mare, a sea of liquid methane on Saturn's moon Titan, is at least 100-m deep near its center, according to a recent analysis of Cassini's data.
A submarine mission to Saturn’s largest moon has long been under discussion. If such a mission was ever launched, it would have plenty of room to operate, because Titan’s largest sea, Kraken Mare, is likely more than 300 m deep.
NASA scientists identified a molecule in Titan’s atmosphere that has never been detected in any other atmosphere - cyclopropenylidene, or C3H2. This simple molecule may be a precursor to possible life on Titan.
A recent study shows that Titan is drifting further and further from Saturn. And the rate at which it’s drifting is 100 times faster than expected. This suggests that Titan has been migrating to its current distance for 4.5 bil years.
A team of astronomers has created the first global map of Titan by using the Cassini probe's over 100 fly-bys to stitch together both imagery and radar measurements.
Researchers have spotted surprisingly diverse landscapes on Titan, from broad planes to sandy dunes and even rivers and lakes. And recently a ribbon of exposed bedrock ice that wraps nearly halfway around the moon was spotted there too.
On its final flyby of Saturn's largest moon in 2017, NASA's Cassini spacecraft gathered radar data revealing just how deep some of Titan's lakes are (more than 100 meters) and of their composition.
Researchers determined hydrocarbons can form the type of complex chains that create Titan's orange-brown haze layers at temperatures as low as 330 degrees below freezing on Earth.
The discovery makes Titan the third Solar System body, in addition to Earth and Mars, where dust storms have been observed.
The mysterious surface of Saturn's huge moon Titan comes into gloriously sharp focus in newly released photos captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
It's Surprisingly Like Earth. Saturn moon's three biggest puddles have a common equipotential surface – a sea level, just like our own oceans.
