Cassini Completes Final and Fateful Titan Flyby “NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has had its last close brush with Saturn’s hazy moon Titan and is now beginning its final set of 22 orbits around the ringed planet.” “The spacecraft made its 127th and final close approach to Titan on April 21 at 11:08 p.m. PDT (2:08 a.m. EDT on April 22), passing at an altitude of about 608 miles (979 kilometers) above […]

Charles D. Walker: Don’t relinquish all space exploration to private firms, Charles Walker, Arizona Daily Star “The idea is attractive, even if commercial plans for a Mars mission are hypothetical at best. But as much as I support the private space industry, experience and common sense tell me that a commercial Mars human landing won’t ever get off the ground not unless NASA goes there first. Businesses are slaves to […]

Ocean on Saturn’s Moon Titan Could be as Salty as the Dead Sea, NASA “Scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Cassini mission have firm evidence the ocean inside Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, might be as salty as the Earth’s Dead Sea. The new results come from a study of gravity and topography data collected during Cassini’s repeated flybys of Titan during the past 10 years. Using the Cassini data, researchers presented […]

Significant Titan Flyby Happening on July 10th, NASA “For the Radar instrument, one of the most significant Titan fly-bys of the extended Solstice mission occurs July 10. Measurements from this flyby, combined with data from the previous flyby, will allow scientists to produce stereo images of lakes. Inbound, the imaging science subsystem (ISS) will acquire a mosaic of high northern latitudes on Titan’s leading hemisphere, approaching northern summer. This area […]

Photo: Titan and Dione As Seen by Cassini “Saturn’s third-largest moon Dione can be seen through the haze of its largest moon, Titan, in this view of the two posing before the planet and its rings from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Titan (3200 miles, 5150 kilometers across) and Dione (698 miles, 1123 kilometers across). North is up on the moons. This view looks […]

Image: Peering Through Titan’s South Pole Haze “These views from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft look toward the south polar region of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and show a depression within the moon’s orange and blue haze layers near the south pole. The close-up view was captured with the narrow-angle camera. Another view taken a second later with the wide-angle camera is also included here for context.”

– Photo: Madagascar, Nosy, Kalakajoro, Berafia, Antanimora and Valiha As Seen From Orbit – Photo: Crete As Seen From Orbit – Photo: Shooting Star As Seen From Above The Sky – In Orbit – Image: Titan’s Arrow-Shaped Storm – Photo: Greece and Turkey As Seen From Orbit

Photo: Titan And Another Moon Set Against Saturn’s Rings “This image was taken on May 21, 2011 and received on Earth May 22, 2011. The camera was pointing toward Titan at approximately 2,313,374 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and GRN filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.”

Cassini Sees Seasonal Rains Transform Titan’s Surface “As spring continues to unfold at Saturn, April showers on the planet’s largest moon, Titan, have brought methane rain to its equatorial deserts, as revealed in images captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Extensive rain from large cloud systems, spotted by Cassini’s cameras in late 2010, has apparently darkened the surface of the moon. The best explanation is these areas remained wet after methane […]

Titan’s haze may hold ingredients for life, University of Arizona “In an experiment exploring the chemical processes that might be going on in the hazy atmosphere enshrouding Saturn’s largest moon, a University of Arizona-led team of scientists discovered a variety of complex organic molecules – including amino acids and nucleotide bases, the most important ingredients of life on Earth.” Water discovered on second asteroid, may be even more common, University […]