Aster › Space program › Triton
Triton
Position on the route: 27/45 · level needed 240 · journey (Mk0 engine) 50.1 h
By the numbers
| Diameter | 2,707 km |
|---|---|
| Gravity | 0.78 m/s² |
| Surface | −235 °C, nitrogen ice |
| Orbit | retrograde, 5.9 days |
The story
Neptune’s largest moon and the only large retrograde moon: it circles against the planet’s rotation. That shows it to be a captured Kuiper Belt object, a cousin of Pluto.
Voyager 2 (1989) saw active nitrogen geysers on the surface: dark plumes rising for kilometres. At −235 °C it is among the coldest places in the Solar System, and yet geologically alive.
Missions
- Voyager 2 (1989): a single flyby, discovery of the geysers
- Trident (proposed): a flyby mission
Colony note
Nitrogen and methane aplenty; a thin atmosphere and geysers. Gravity half the Moon’s.
What probes bring back
- A retrograde orbit: it is a captured Kuiper Belt object.
- Voyager 2 (1989) saw active nitrogen geysers; the surface is −235 °C.