Huygens-Sonda 14.01.2005 na Tytanie...

drf ...amino acids 11.01.05, 21:54

Cold, smog and tar ... life on Titan could be sticky
By Richard Macey
January 12, 2005
*

No one knows if it will land with a thud, a splash or a squish.

Late tomorrow, Sydney time, a man-made meteor will streak across the orange-
brown sky of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

After travelling more than seven years and 3.5 billion kilometres, Europe's
Huygens spacecraft will parachute to the first touchdown on another planet's
natural satellite.

If Titan were a planet, instead of a moon, it would probably have received far
more attention from Hollywood.

Almost as big as Mars, it is the only moon in our solar system with a dense
atmosphere, a thick coat of nitrogen - the gas that makes up about 78 per cent
of the air we breathe.

Some scientists believe Titan resembles the Earth of billions of years ago,
before life began. The temperature is minus 180 degrees, too cold for water or
water vapour. Instead, Titan's sky is laced with dense clouds of methane,
which, combined with sunlight, gives the planet its orange-brown hue.

The clouds may be fed by evaporation from methane-rich lakes refilled by "rain"
and even "hail". Huygens has been built to float, just in case it splashes down
and becomes the first interplanetary boat. "Titan has very strong winds, so
there may be waves on these lakes," said the Huygens mission operations
manager, Claudio Sollazzo, of the European Space Agency, who added that landing
on a lake would provide "nicer shots for our cameras" and prove Titan was
a "fun place to be".

Other scientists suspect the surface may be dry or covered in a tar-like goo
formed by billions of years of chemical reactions. Such tar may contain amino
acids, the building blocks of proteins that are essential for life.

If Huygens survives, it could operate for up to 30 minutes before its
mothership, NASA's Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn and acting as a
relay satellite, passes out of range.

Walking on Titan would be like strolling at the bottom of a swimming pool
because its atmosphere is four times denser than Earth's and it has only a
seventh of the gravity,

"Running might be difficult," writes Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton, in
Lifting Titan's Veil, a book on the mission. But "Titan could be just the place
to learn to fly ... With wings a few metres across, a human could flap into the
air and fly at least a short distance."

www.smh.com.au/news/World/Cold-smog-and-tar--life-on-Titan-could-be-sticky/2005/01/11/1105423491556.html?oneclick=true

-

Drzewko
Od najstarszego
Od najnowszego

perli wkrótce 11.01.05, 21:23

wyląduje tam również wątek Pana Fidela. To będzie sobota, a być może nawet i
niedziela.
- drf ...amino acids 11.01.05, 21:54
  
  Cold, smog and tar ... life on Titan could be sticky
  By Richard Macey
  January 12, 2005
  *
  
  No one knows if it will land with a thud, a splash or a squish.
  
  Late tomorrow, Sydney time, a man-made meteor will streak across the orange-
  brown sky of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.
  
  After travelling more than seven years and 3.5 billion kilometres, Europe's
  Huygens spacecraft will parachute to the first touchdown on another planet's
  natural satellite.
  
  If Titan were a planet, instead of a moon, it would probably have received far
  more attention from Hollywood.
  
  Almost as big as Mars, it is the only moon in our solar system with a dense
  atmosphere, a thick coat of nitrogen - the gas that makes up about 78 per cent
  of the air we breathe.
  
  Some scientists believe Titan resembles the Earth of billions of years ago,
  before life began. The temperature is minus 180 degrees, too cold for water or
  water vapour. Instead, Titan's sky is laced with dense clouds of methane,
  which, combined with sunlight, gives the planet its orange-brown hue.
  
  The clouds may be fed by evaporation from methane-rich lakes refilled by "rain"
  and even "hail". Huygens has been built to float, just in case it splashes down
  and becomes the first interplanetary boat. "Titan has very strong winds, so
  there may be waves on these lakes," said the Huygens mission operations
  manager, Claudio Sollazzo, of the European Space Agency, who added that landing
  on a lake would provide "nicer shots for our cameras" and prove Titan was
  a "fun place to be".
  
  Other scientists suspect the surface may be dry or covered in a tar-like goo
  formed by billions of years of chemical reactions. Such tar may contain amino
  acids, the building blocks of proteins that are essential for life.
  
  If Huygens survives, it could operate for up to 30 minutes before its
  mothership, NASA's Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn and acting as a
  relay satellite, passes out of range.
  
  Walking on Titan would be like strolling at the bottom of a swimming pool
  because its atmosphere is four times denser than Earth's and it has only a
  seventh of the gravity,
  
  "Running might be difficult," writes Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton, in
  Lifting Titan's Veil, a book on the mission. But "Titan could be just the place
  to learn to fly ... With wings a few metres across, a human could flap into the
  air and fly at least a short distance."
  
  www.smh.com.au/news/World/Cold-smog-and-tar--life-on-Titan-could-be-sticky/2005/01/11/1105423491556.html?oneclick=true
  
  -
grippen Re: Huygens-Sonda 14.01.2005 na Tytanie... 15.01.05, 17:30

Huygens-Sonda na Tytanie, pierwsze zjęcia, widac min.kamienie...

eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/afpde/20050115/14/441315660.jpg
eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/afpde/20050115/08/2433043484.jpg
eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/dpa/20050115/13/2085490539.jpg
www.mopo.de/images/2005/20050115/jpeg-1p995044-20050114-img_7924560.jpg
Gość: ela.tu-i-tam Re: Huygens-Sonda 14.01.2005 na Tytanie... IP: *.w83-114.abo.wanadoo.fr 15.01.05, 18:49

Wszystkie zdjecia i doskonale objasnienia na
www.esa.int/

Najnowsze z forum Aquanet

Zaloguj się