The Universe TV - Chris McKay - Horizon TV - Alien Contact Investigated TV - Solar Empire TV - Are We Alone? TV - Brian Cox TV - 95 Worlds and Counting TV - Extreme Universe TV - Steve Jacobs - The Sky at Night TV - How the Universe Works TV - Destination Titan TV - Secrets of the Solar System TV -
Titan is an enormous planetary body. The second largest moon in the solar system. 50% larger than the Earth’s moon. If it wasn’t orbiting Saturn, Titan would be a planet in its own right. But most impressive of all, many scientists believe that Titan could now, or at some point in the future, provide a habitat for life. The Universe s1e13: Search for ET, History 2007
Far out past the rings of Saturn lies the second largest moon in the solar system: Titan. The Universe s2e15: Wildest Weather in the Cosmos, 2008
Scientists were excited to discover mountains, washes, even lakes the size of Lake Superior. But the liquid that fills Titan’s lakes and rivers isn’t water, it’s methane. And that means when condensation occurs on this planet it rains methane. ibid.
Titan is wrapped in a thick atmosphere ... lakes glisten ... methane. The Universe s4e9: Liquid Universe, 2009
What Cassini and its lander found was astonishing ... Slow-falling liquid methane. The Universe s5e5: Space Probes, 2010
There may be methane icebergs. There’s certainly methane lakes and rivers, and there’s methane rain and methane clouds, and maybe bugs swimming in methane. Dr Chris McKay, NASA
Titan is the only moon to have an atmosphere. And is less cold than expected. About minus one hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit. The surface may hold liquid nitrogen possibly boiling or erupting with hot springs or geysers. Horizon: Encounter with Jupiter, BBC 1980
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, does have enough gravity to possess one ... a thick layer of orange smog. Horizon: Earth to Miranda, BBC 1990
It’s the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere. Alien Contact Investigated
Scientists think Titan could be rich in organic chemicals. ibid.
Cassini will send a probe down through the noxious atmosphere of Titan. Looking at this primitive deep-frozen Earth it’ll be our telescope through time. For two and a half hours it will learn and tell the story of Titan’s atmosphere. Once landed, it will relay back for just a few minutes data and pictures. Solar Empire: Edge of Darkness, Discovery 1997
Titan’s frigid atmosphere is so thick it completely obscures the surface. Could Titan’s hidden terrain be a haven for life? In January 2005 Cassini dropped a small probe called Huygens to the surface where it captured fantastic images of an alien world that includes solid water-ice. Are We Alone? BBC 2009
If these are not lakes of water then what are they? ... Titan’s atmospheric temperature is perfect to allow methane to exist as a solid, as gas, but most importantly a liquid. Professor Brian Cox, Wonders of the Solar System: The Thin Blue Line, BBC 2010
The largest of Saturn’s moons: Titan. Titan shrouded from view by a smoggy atmosphere. The surface of Titan has never been seen ... Titan is the coolest moon in the solar system. It may look like Earth, but the lakes are made of liquid natural gas. 95 Worlds and Counting, 2000
Enough fuel to power the Earth for fifty million years. ibid.
But Titan’s landscape wasn’t carved by water: it’s methane the main component of Earth’s natural gas. On Titan at minus 180° Celsius it’s a liquid. And Titan’s methane goes through a cycle, just like our water here on Earth. Extreme Universe s1e3: Space Storms, National Geographic 2010
Not liquid water but liquid methane. On Earth methane is a flammable gas. But the temperatures on Titan are so cold – minus 180° Celsius – that the methane can form liquid. Extreme Universe: Is Anyone Out There?
The weather on Titan is a bit chilly. Steve Jacobs, Chief Scientist Faraday Labs
A new and very exciting space probe is being planned for the 1990s. The Sky at Night, BBC 1990
Saturn has another moon: Titan. With an even greater potential for life. In 2005 Cassini sent a probe named Huygens on a one-way mission to Titan. For just three and a half hours Huygens transmitted live pictures from the hostile surface, over one and a half billion kilometres away. But then it ran out of power. How the Universe Works s1e8: Moons, Discovery 2010
Raindrops on Titan are twice as big as the raindrops on Earth. But the rain isn’t water; it’s methane. ibid.
Titan. It is massive. Bigger than the planet Mercury … Mountains and deserts, rivers and lakes … A thick nitrogen-rich atmosphere … A vast source of methane must be replacing the orange smog … It has active geology and complex chemistry. How the Universe Works s3e5: Is Saturn Alive? 2014
Why are Titan’s dunes facing backwards? … These organic dunes contain the building blocks of life. How the Universe Works s7e8: Cassini’s Final Secrets
January 14th 2005: The day had finally arrived ... A billion and a half million miles away out there near Saturn there was something that we’d built. Destination Titan, John Zarnecki, BBC 2011
In 1980 Voyager flew past Saturn, and continued onwards to the outer Solar System. One of its most intriguing observations was of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. ibid. banner
Each of John Zarnecki’s students would be responsible for one element of the Surface Science Package (SSP). ibid.
January 1996: Finally we got to the very last test – this was the vibration test. Can you believe what happened? The damned thing broke. ibid. John Zarnecki
By October 1997 Cassini and the Huygens probe were ready for launch. ibid. banner
October 15th 1997: Cassini and the Hugens probe would take seven years to reach Titan. In total Cassini’s route would take it 2 billion miles on its journey to Titan. But three years into the voyage, a major problem was discovered. ibid.
Cassini would continue orbiting Saturn until the time came to release Huygens. ibid.
With the heat shield released, Huygens was ready to send back the first data about the atmosphere of Titan. ibid.
Data was now coming through, but Huygens still had to survive the landing. ibid.
I was crying frankly. ibid. John Zarnecki
Receiving the data established the mission’s success. But the real prize was still to come. Pictures from the surface of Titan. ibid. banner
Titan’s surface is incredibly varied. ibid. John Zarnecki
We had weather on Titan. ibid.
Huygens remains the most distant spacecraft landing in history. ibid. banner
Titan would become almost as important a destination as Saturn itself … ‘The only satellite in the solar system with a dense atmosphere.’ Secrets of the Solar System s1e7: The Celestial Beauty, Yesterday 2020
‘There was methane present in the atmosphere of Titan … The possibility for lakes and oceans on the surface …’ ibid.
Cassini-Huygens: ‘The Huygens’ probe was actually designed to be able to float in liquid as well as land on a solid surface’ … In the summer of 2004 the spacecraft was finally approaching the Saturnian system … ‘Those images I’ll never forget them.’ ibid.