Author Topic: NASA - Cassini updates  (Read 355603 times)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #580 on: 06/23/2017 07:53 am »
June 22, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY M17-075

NASA Opens Media Credentialing for Sept. 15 Cassini Saturn Finale

Media accreditation is now open for events around the conclusion of Cassini's mission at Saturn. The spacecraft, which has explored the ringed planet and its moons since 2004, will make a fateful plunge into Saturn's atmosphere on Sept. 15, ending its long and discovery-rich mission.

The event and related news conferences will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Further details and updates will be announced as they become available.

To cover Cassini finale events at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, which is the mission control center for the spacecraft, news organizations should begin the process of applying for credentials by sending the following information to Elena Mejia at [email protected]:

•Your name (as spelled on your driver’s license with middle name), title, phone number and work email
•Country of citizenship
•If not a U.S. citizen, are you a green card holder?
•Media outlet name, address, phone number, and website
•Editor's name, phone number and work email

To allow time for processing and approval, foreign nationals, plus representatives of foreign news organizations, regardless of citizenship, must apply by July 11. U.S. citizens and green card holders representing U.S. news organizations must apply by Aug. 4.

Media should confirm they have been credentialed before making travel arrangements. Credentialed media will have access to Cassini finale interviews, photo and b-roll opportunities, and media briefings during the days leading up to the mission's Sept. 15 Grand Finale. A newsroom will be open, and a limited amount of workspace will be available.

During its journey, Cassini has made numerous discoveries, including a global ocean with hydrothermal activity within the moon Enceladus, and vast seas of liquid methane on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Cassini began the final, dramatic phase of its mission, called the Grand Finale, on April 26, with the first of the planned 22 dives between Saturn and its rings. The final orbits are bringing the spacecraft closer to Saturn than ever before, providing high-resolution images and new insights into the planet's interior structure and the origins of the rings. During its final plunge into Saturn, Cassini will send data about the atmosphere's composition until its signal is lost.

More information about Cassini's Grand Finale, including images and video, is available at:

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/grandfinale

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.

More information about Cassini:

https://www.nasa.gov/cassini

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
Jacques :-)

Offline jacqmans

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #581 on: 07/04/2017 07:47 am »
Saturn and rings 7 June 2017
 
Space science image of the week:
 
The international Cassini spacecraft has completed half of the 22 dives between Saturn and its rings before concluding its mission on 15 September. Cassini has been exploring the Saturnian system for 13 years, and has been making a series of ‘grand finale’ orbits since 22 April, taking the spacecraft into previously unexplored territory.
 
The image shown here was captured on 7 June, on the approach to the eighth dive. It is a raw image taken with the wide-angle camera and shows the planet, its rings, and a projection of Saturn’s shadow onto the inner rings.
 
Each of the 22 elliptical orbits takes about six and a half days to complete, and sends the spacecraft diving through a 2 400 km wide space at speeds of 121 000–126 000 km/h.
 
As well as returning stunning images, the dives are enabling unique data to be collected that will help scientists solve mysteries regarding the mass of Saturn’s rings and the planet’s rotation rate. In the final five orbits the spacecraft will also dip down to directly sample Saturn’s upper atmosphere.
 
Following the last orbit, the spacecraft will make a distant flyby of Titan that will alter Cassini’s trajectory one final time, sending it into a controlled plunge into the planet’s atmosphere to conclude this incredible mission.
 
Read more about the grand finale here and check out the latest images in the raw image gallery.
 
The Cassini–Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and ASI, the Italian space agency.
 
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Jacques :-)

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #582 on: 07/06/2017 07:24 pm »
Calm lakes on Titan could mean smooth landing for future space probes

https://phys.org/news/2017-07-calm-lakes-titan-smooth-future.amp

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #583 on: 07/08/2017 03:14 pm »
Quote
For #SaturnSaturday, here’s our #GrandFinale by the numbers. More: go.nasa.gov/1Up1oba
https://twitter.com/cassinisaturn/status/883676184592039936

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/overview/


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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #585 on: 07/10/2017 06:36 pm »
As an old chem major, I have been following the hypotheses (and eventually data) about Titan's lakes since the Voyager probes in the late 70's, as possibly the most interesting chemistry in the Solar System aside from Earth itself. I have been worried about the lack of evidence for significant waves, thinking maybe these are not really lakes per se but rather hydrocarbon tarpits or mudflats. That still might be very interesting chemistry, but might be much more challenging to explore. I was hoping someone with a better understanding of what can and cannot be inferred from the radar data could comment on what constraints they place on models of the likely viscosity of the fluid in these lakes (which may well vary between them).

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #586 on: 07/14/2017 10:04 pm »
Quote
CassiniSaturn‏ Verified account @CassiniSaturn 3m3 minutes ago

We captured this unprocessed close-up of Saturn’s rings during the latest ring crossing on 7/12. See more raw images https://go.nasa.gov/2guHnlH

https://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn/status/885981999533445121

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #587 on: 07/23/2017 09:34 pm »
Quote
Just started #GrandFinale orbit 15. We'll be watching for clouds on Titan, listening for lightning on Saturn. More: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/grand-finale-orbit-guide/

https://twitter.com/cassinisaturn/status/888803097102790656

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #588 on: 07/24/2017 07:30 pm »
Quote
NEWS & FEATURES | July 24, 2017
Saturn Surprises As Cassini Continues its Grand Finale

As NASA's Cassini spacecraft makes its unprecedented series of weekly dives between Saturn and its rings, scientists are finding -- so far -- that the planet's magnetic field has no discernable tilt. This surprising observation, which means the true length of Saturn's day is still unknown, is just one of several early insights from the final phase of Cassini's mission, known as the Grand Finale.
Other recent science highlights include promising hints about the structure and composition of the icy rings, along with high-resolution images of the rings and Saturn's atmosphere.

Cassini is now in the 15th of 22 weekly orbits that pass through the narrow gap between Saturn and its rings. The spacecraft began its finale on April 26 and will continue its dives until Sept. 15, when it will make a mission-ending plunge into Saturn's atmosphere.
"Cassini is performing beautifully in the final leg of its long journey," said Cassini Project Manager Earl Maize at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "Its observations continue to surprise and delight as we squeeze out every last bit of science that we can get."

Cassini scientists are thrilled as well -- and surprised in some cases -- with the observations being made by the spacecraft in the finale. "The data we are seeing from Cassini's Grand Finale are every bit as exciting as we hoped, although we are still deep in the process of working out what they are telling us about Saturn and its rings," said Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker at JPL.

Early Magnetic Field Analysis

Based on data collected by Cassini's magnetometer instrument, Saturn's magnetic field appears to be surprisingly well-aligned with the planet's rotation axis. The tilt is much smaller than 0.06 degrees -- which is the lower limit the spacecraft's magnetometer data placed on the value prior to the start of the Grand Finale.

This observation is at odds with scientists' theoretical understanding of how magnetic fields are generated. Planetary magnetic fields are understood to require some degree of tilt to sustain currents flowing through the liquid metal deep inside the planets (in Saturn's case, thought to be liquid metallic hydrogen). With no tilt, the currents would eventually subside and the field would disappear.

Any tilt to the magnetic field would make the daily wobble of the planet's deep interior observable, thus revealing the true length of Saturn's day, which has so far proven elusive.
"The tilt seems to be much smaller than we had previously estimated and quite challenging to explain," said Michele Dougherty, Cassini magnetometer investigation lead at Imperial College, London. "We have not been able to resolve the length of day at Saturn so far, but we're still working on it."

The lack of a tilt may eventually be rectified with further data. Dougherty and her team believe some aspect of the planet's deep atmosphere might be masking the true internal magnetic field. The team will continue to collect and analyze data for the remainder of the mission, including during the final plunge into Saturn.

The magnetometer data will also be evaluated in concert with Cassini's measurements of Saturn's gravity field collected during the Grand Finale. Early analysis of the gravity data collected so far shows discrepancies compared with parts of the leading models of Saturn's interior, suggesting something unexpected about the planet's structure is awaiting discovery.

Sampling Saturn

In addition to its investigation of the planet's interior, Cassini has now obtained the first-ever samples of the planet's atmosphere and main rings, which promise new insights about their composition and structure. The spacecraft's cosmic dust analyzer (CDA) instrument has collected many nanometer-size ring particles while flying through the planet-ring gap, while its ion and neutral mass spectrometer (INMS) has sniffed the outermost atmosphere, called the exosphere.

During Cassini's first dive through the gap on April 26, the spacecraft was oriented so its large, saucer-shaped antenna would act as a shield against oncoming ring particles that might cause damage. While at first it appeared that there were essentially no particles in the gap, scientists later determined the particles there are very small and could be detected using the CDA instrument.

The cosmic dust analyzer was later allowed to peek out from behind the antenna during Cassini's third of four passes through the innermost of Saturn's main rings, the D ring, on June 29. During Cassini's first two passes through the inner D ring, the particle environment there was found to be benign. This prompted mission controllers to relax the shielding requirement for one orbit, in hopes of capturing ring particles there using CDA. As the spacecraft passed through the ring, the CDA instrument successfully captured some of the tiniest particles there, which the team expects will provide significant information about their composition.

During the spacecraft's final five orbits, as well as it final plunge, the INMS instrument will obtain samples deeper down in the atmosphere. Cassini will skim through the outer atmosphere during these passes, and INMS is expected to send particularly important data on the composition of Saturn's atmosphere during the final plunge.

Amazing Images

Not to be outdone, Cassini's imaging cameras have been hard at work, returning some of the highest-resolution views of the rings and planet they have ever obtained. For example, close-up views of Saturn's C ring -- which features mysterious bright bands called plateaus -- reveal surprisingly different textures in neighboring sections of the ring. The plateaus appear to have a streaky texture, whereas adjacent regions appear clumpy or have no obvious structure at all. Ring scientists believe the new level of detail may shed light on why the plateaus are there, and what is different about the particles in them.

On two of Cassini's close passes over Saturn, on April 26 and June 29, the cameras captured ultra-close views of the cloudscape racing past, showing the planet from closer than ever before. Imaging scientists have combined images from these dives into two new image mosaics and a movie sequence. (Specifically, the previously released April 26 movie was updated to greatly enhance its contrast and sharpness.)

Launched in 1997, Cassini has orbited Saturn since arriving in 2004 for an up-close study of the planet, its rings and moons, and its vast magnetosphere. Cassini has made numerous dramatic discoveries, including a global ocean with indications of hydrothermal activity within the moon Enceladus, and liquid methane seas on another moon, Titan.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.

More information about the Cassini mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/cassini
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/3083/saturn-surprises-as-cassini-continues-its-grand-finale/

First picture caption:
Quote
This false-color view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft gazes toward the rings beyond Saturn's sunlit horizon, where a thin haze can be seen along the limb.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Second picture caption:
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This colorful spectrogram represents data collected by Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument as it crossed through Saturn's D ring on May 28, 2017.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Iowa

Third picture caption:
Quote
This mosaic combines views captured by Cassini as it made the first dive of the mission's Grand Finale on April 26, 2017, and shows details in bands and swirls in the atmosphere.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Hampton University

Offline Star One

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #589 on: 07/26/2017 06:42 pm »
Enceladus’ jets from afar

Quote
Enceladus’ intriguing south-polar jets are viewed by the Cassini probe from afar, backlit by sunlight while the moon itself glows softly in reflected Saturn-shine.

Observations of the jets taken from various viewing geometries provide different insights into these remarkable features. Cassini has gathered a wealth of information in the hopes of unraveling the mysteries of the subsurface ocean that lurks beneath the moon’s icy crust.

https://astronomynow.com/2017/07/26/enceladus-jets-from-afar/

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #590 on: 07/26/2017 07:16 pm »
This appears to be a very significant discovery.

Has Cassini Found A Universal Driver For Prebiotic Chemistry At Titan?

Quote
The international Cassini-Huygens mission has made a surprising detection of a molecule that is instrumental in the production of complex organics within the hazy atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.

Quote
Titan boasts a thick nitrogen and methane atmosphere with some of the most complex chemistry seen in the Solar System. It is even thought to mimic the atmosphere of early Earth, before the build-up of oxygen. As such, Titan can be seen as a planet-scale laboratory that can be studied to understand the chemical reactions that may have led to life on Earth, and that could be occurring on planets around other stars.
In Titan's upper atmosphere, nitrogen and methane are exposed to energy from sunlight and energetic particles in Saturn's magnetosphere. These energy sources drive reactions involving nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon, which lead to more complicated prebiotic compounds.
These large molecules drift down towards the lower atmosphere, forming a thick haze of organic aerosols, and are thought to eventually reach the surface. But the process by which simple molecules in the upper atmosphere are transformed into the complex organic haze at lower altitudes is complicated and difficult to determine.
One surprising outcome of the Cassini mission was the discovery of a particular type of negatively charged molecule at Titan. Negatively charged species – or 'anions' – were not something scientists expected to find, because they are highly reactive and should not last long in Titan's atmosphere before combining with other materials. Their detection is completely reshaping current understanding of the hazy moon's atmosphere.
In a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, scientists identified some of the negatively charged species as what are known as 'carbon chain anions'. These linear molecules are understood to be building blocks towards more complex molecules, and may have acted as the basis for the earliest forms of life on Earth.

Chemistry in Titan's atmosphere.

The detections were made using Cassini's plasma spectrometer, called CAPS, as Cassini flew through Titan's upper atmosphere, 950–1300 km above the surface. Interestingly, the data showed that the carbon chains became depleted closer to the moon, while precursors to larger aerosol molecules underwent rapid growth, suggesting a close relationship between the two, with the chains 'seeding' the larger molecules.
"We have made the first unambiguous identification of carbon chain anions in a planet-like atmosphere, which we believe are a vital stepping-stone in the production line of growing bigger, and more complex organic molecules, such as the moon's large haze particles," says Ravi Desai of University College London and lead author of the study.
"This is a known process in the interstellar medium, but now we've seen it in a completely different environment, meaning it could represent a universal process for producing complex organic molecules.
"The question is, could it also be happening within other nitrogen-methane atmospheres like at Pluto or Triton, or at exoplanets with similar properties?"
"The prospect of a universal pathway towards the ingredients for life has implications for what we should look for in the search for life in the Universe," says co-author Andrew Coates, also from UCL, and co-investigator of CAPS.
"Titan presents a local example of exciting and exotic chemistry, from which we have much to learn."
Cassini's 13-year odyssey in the Saturnian system will soon draw to a close, but future missions, such as the international James Webb Space Telescope and ESA's PLATO exoplanet mission are being equipped to look for this process not only in our own Solar System but elsewhere. Advanced ground-based facilities such as ALMA could also enable follow-up observations of this process at work in Titan's atmosphere, from Earth.
"These inspiring results from Cassini show the importance of tracing the journey from small to large chemical species in order to understand how complex organic molecules are produced in an early Earth-like atmosphere," adds Nicolas Altobelli, ESA's Cassini-Huygens Project Scientist.
"While we haven't detected life itself, finding complex organics not just at Titan, but also in comets and throughout the interstellar medium, we are certainly coming close to finding its precursors."

http://sci.esa.int/cassini-huygens/59350-has-cassini-found-a-universal-driver-for-prebiotic-chemistry-at-titan/
« Last Edit: 07/26/2017 07:20 pm by Star One »

Offline Star One

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #591 on: 07/27/2017 06:43 pm »
Haze on Saturn’s horizon

Quote
Cassini will pass through Saturn’s upper atmosphere during the final five orbits of the mission, before making a fateful plunge into Saturn on Sept. 15, 2017. The region through which the spacecraft will fly on those last orbits is well above the haze seen here, which is in Saturn’s stratosphere. In fact, even when Cassini plunges toward Saturn to meet its fate, contact with the spacecraft is expected to be lost before it reaches the depth of this haze.

This view is a false-color composite made using images taken in red, green and ultraviolet spectral filters. The images were obtained using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 16, 2017, at a distance of about 777,000 miles (1.25 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is about 4 miles (7 kilometers) per pixel on Saturn.

https://astronomynow.com/2017/07/27/haze-on-saturns-horizon/

Offline TomH

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #592 on: 07/28/2017 11:07 pm »
Newsweek article re: pre-biotic molecules identified by Cassini:

http://www.newsweek.com/saturn-moon-titan-simple-life-nasa-cassini-643322

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #593 on: 08/04/2017 05:18 pm »
More on the complex chemistry of Titan that maybe the home of exotic forms of life.

An Astrobiological Role for Titan’s Complex Chemistry?

https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=38230
« Last Edit: 08/04/2017 05:18 pm by Star One »

Offline jacqmans

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #594 on: 08/10/2017 06:38 am »
August 09, 2017
RELEASE 17-070

Cassini to Begin Final Five Orbits Around Saturn


NASA's Cassini spacecraft will enter new territory in its final mission phase, the Grand Finale, as it prepares to embark on a set of ultra-close passes through Saturn’s upper atmosphere with its final five orbits around the planet.

Cassini will make the first of these five passes over Saturn at 12:22 a.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 14. The spacecraft's point of closest approach to Saturn during these passes will be between about 1,010 and 1,060 miles (1,630 and 1,710 kilometers) above Saturn's cloud tops.

The spacecraft is expected to encounter atmosphere dense enough to require the use of its small rocket thrusters to maintain stability – conditions similar to those encountered during many of Cassini's close flybys of Saturn's moon Titan, which has its own dense atmosphere.

"Cassini's Titan flybys prepared us for these rapid passes through Saturn's upper atmosphere," said Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. "Thanks to our past experience, the team is confident that we understand how the spacecraft will behave at the atmospheric densities our models predict."

Maize said the team will consider the Aug. 14 pass nominal if the thrusters operate between 10 and 60 percent of their capability. If the thrusters are forced to work harder – meaning the atmosphere is denser than models predict – engineers will increase the altitude of subsequent orbits. Referred to as a "pop-up maneuver,” thrusters will be used to raise the altitude of closest approach on the next passes, likely by about 120 miles (200 kilometers).

If the pop-up maneuver is not needed, and the atmosphere is less dense than expected during the first three passes, engineers may alternately use the "pop-down" option to lower the closest approach altitude of the last two orbits, also likely by about 120 miles (200 kilometers). Doing so would enable Cassini's science instruments, especially the ion and neutral mass spectrometer (INMS), to obtain data on the atmosphere even closer to the planet's cloud tops.

"As it makes these five dips into Saturn, followed by its final plunge, Cassini will become the first Saturn atmospheric probe," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at JPL. "It's long been a goal in planetary exploration to send a dedicated probe into the atmosphere of Saturn, and we're laying the groundwork for future exploration with this first foray."

Other Cassini instruments will make detailed, high-resolution observations of Saturn's auroras, temperature, and the vortexes at the planet's poles. Its radar will peer deep into the atmosphere to reveal small-scale features as fine as 16 miles (25 kilometers) wide – nearly 100 times smaller than the spacecraft could observe prior to the Grand Finale.

On Sept. 11, a distant encounter with Titan will serve as a gravitational version of a large pop-down maneuver, slowing Cassini’s orbit around Saturn and bending its path slightly to send the spacecraft toward its Sept. 15 plunge into the planet.

During the half-orbit plunge, the plan is to have seven Cassini science instruments, including INMS, turned on and reporting measurements in near real time. The spacecraft is expected to reach an altitude where atmospheric density is about twice what it encountered during its final five passes. Once Cassini reaches that point, its thrusters will no longer be able to work against the push of Saturn’s atmosphere to keep the spacecraft's antenna pointed toward Earth, and contact will permanently be lost. The spacecraft will break up like a meteor moments later, ending its long and rewarding journey.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini spacecraft.
« Last Edit: 08/10/2017 06:38 am by jacqmans »
Jacques :-)

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #595 on: 08/11/2017 09:04 am »
To add to the conversation about the latest discovery/paper:

Carbon Chain Anions and the Growth of Complex Organic Molecules in Titan's Ionosphere

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aa7851

Saturn’s moon Titan may harbour simple life forms – and reveal how organisms first formed on Earth

https://theconversation.com/saturns-moon-titan-may-harbour-simple-life-forms-and-reveal-how-organisms-first-formed-on-earth-81527

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #596 on: 08/11/2017 03:50 pm »
To add to the conversation about the latest discovery/paper:

Carbon Chain Anions and the Growth of Complex Organic Molecules in Titan's Ionosphere

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aa7851

Saturn’s moon Titan may harbour simple life forms – and reveal how organisms first formed on Earth

https://theconversation.com/saturns-moon-titan-may-harbour-simple-life-forms-and-reveal-how-organisms-first-formed-on-earth-81527

Never a truer comment made under that conversation article.

Quote
I guess if the Huygens probe had a gas chromatograph on board then most of these questions would probably have already been answered one way or the other.

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #597 on: 08/13/2017 02:11 pm »


Quote
Published on 11 Aug 2017
Saturn’s giant, hazy moon Titan has been essential to NASA’s Cassini mission during its 13 thrilling years of exploration there. Cassini and the European Huygens probe have revealed a fascinating world of lakes and seas, great swaths of dunes, and a complex atmosphere with weather – with intriguing similarities to Earth. Titan has also been an engine for the mission, providing gravity assists that propelled the spacecraft on its adventures around the ringed planet. For more about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

Offline savuporo

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #598 on: 08/13/2017 04:42 pm »
Never a truer comment made under that conversation article.

Quote
I guess if the Huygens probe had a gas chromatograph on board then most of these questions would probably have already been answered one way or the other.

TiME for a do-over, maybe.
Orion - the first and only manned not-too-deep-space craft

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Re: NASA - Cassini updates
« Reply #599 on: 08/16/2017 09:00 am »
Any news regarding Saturn's core?
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