Titan (Saturn)
Position on the route: 18/45 · level needed 120 · journey (Mk0 engine) 24.6 h
By the numbers
| Distance from Saturn | 1.2 million km |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 5,150 km |
| Gravity | 1.35 m/s² (0.14 g) |
| Day = year | 16 days |
| Temperature | −179 °C |
| Atmosphere | 95 % N₂, 5 % CH₄, 1.5 bar |
| Lakes | liquid methane and ethane |
The story
The only moon in the solar system with a thick atmosphere; the surface pressure is one and a half times Earth’s. Under the orange haze methane rains, rivers run, and seas of liquid methane such as Kraken Mare lie at the poles. Water here is as hard as rock; ‘geology’ works with ice, ‘hydrology’ with hydrocarbons.
Thanks to the thick air and low gravity a person could fly with wings strapped to the arms. The same atmosphere is a shield against radiation, which makes Titan the most ‘comfortable’ base in the outer system. Liquid methane is ready rocket fuel and nitrogen the breathing mix; the missing oxygen comes from water ice.
The Huygens probe reached the surface in 2005 after a two-and-a-half-hour parachute descent: the farthest landing ever made. NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft launches in 2028 and starts flying on Titan in 2034.
Missions
- Voyager 1 (1980): could not see below the haze
- Cassini (2004–2017): lakes and seas by radar
- Huygens (2005): landing on the surface
- Dragonfly (launch 2028, arrival 2034)
Colony note
The most liveable base of the outer system: the atmosphere stops radiation, fuel feedstock is plentiful. The hard parts: −179 °C, a long journey, very little sunlight.
What probes bring back
- Atmosphere 1.5 bar nitrogen, surface −179 °C; methane rain and lakes (Kraken Mare).
- The dunes are grains of organic ‘tholins’.
- A water–ammonia ocean under the surface (tidal measurements).