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Dropping a robotic lander on the surface of a comet was arguably one of the most audacious space achievements of recent times.
But one concept mission being studied by the U.S. space agency could top even that.
Scientists are proposing to send a robot submarine to the oily seas of Saturn’s moon Titan. The seas are filled not with water, but with hydrocarbons like methane and ethane. These compounds exist in their liquid state on the moon, where the temperature averages 180C.
Attractive target
Titan resembles a deep frozen version of Earth, making it an attractive target for exploration.
The plan is funded by an initiative called Nasa Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC), where researchers are encouraged to think out of the box.
That’s quite liberating, says the scientist behind the project, Dr. Ralph Lorenz, who is outlining the concept here at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in Texas. Dr. Lorenz believes the mission is eminently achievable with the right resources, timing and technology.
Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) are now widely used for military purposes, by search teams, in oil exploration and scientific investigation. So existing technologies could be adapted for use on another world.
One of the most striking aspects of the proposal is a plan to deliver the sub in a variant of the U.S. military’s secretive mini-space shuttle, the X-37B.
The sub would fit in the payload bay of the unmanned shuttle, with the stack then launched on a rocket. Once at Titan, the shuttle and its payload would glide down through the moon’s soupy atmosphere. — New York Times News Service
But one concept mission being studied by the U.S. space agency could top even that.
Scientists are proposing to send a robot submarine to the oily seas of Saturn’s moon Titan. The seas are filled not with water, but with hydrocarbons like methane and ethane. These compounds exist in their liquid state on the moon, where the temperature averages 180C.
Attractive target
Titan resembles a deep frozen version of Earth, making it an attractive target for exploration.
The plan is funded by an initiative called Nasa Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC), where researchers are encouraged to think out of the box.
That’s quite liberating, says the scientist behind the project, Dr. Ralph Lorenz, who is outlining the concept here at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) in Texas. Dr. Lorenz believes the mission is eminently achievable with the right resources, timing and technology.
Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) are now widely used for military purposes, by search teams, in oil exploration and scientific investigation. So existing technologies could be adapted for use on another world.
One of the most striking aspects of the proposal is a plan to deliver the sub in a variant of the U.S. military’s secretive mini-space shuttle, the X-37B.
The sub would fit in the payload bay of the unmanned shuttle, with the stack then launched on a rocket. Once at Titan, the shuttle and its payload would glide down through the moon’s soupy atmosphere. — New York Times News Service
