Comments on: In Titan’s Southern Hemisphere, Scientists See an “Indian Summer” http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/06/04/in-titans-southern-hemisphere-scientists-see-an-indian-summer/ 80beats is DISCOVER's news aggregator, weaving together the choicest tidbits from the best articles covering the day\'s most compelling topics. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:36:58 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Nick http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/06/04/in-titans-southern-hemisphere-scientists-see-an-indian-summer/comment-page-1/#comment-31813 Nick Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:54:40 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/06/04/in-titans-southern-hemisphere-scientists-see-an-indian-summer/#comment-31813 Methane = hydrocarbon = fuel source. What if we could drop a probe that could harvest methane and power itself (though we don't know how to combust without oxygen - but some reactions produce their own oxygen by pulling it from whatever source it's bonded with, maybe something like that exists at the surface of Titan), or maybe a high-altitude balloon with a nuke power source that could stay aloft by a jet that pushed methane instead of nitrogen/oxygen like we have here on earth. Though I guess simulating the atmosphere of Titan here at home for testing might be difficult. Methane = hydrocarbon = fuel source. What if we could drop a probe that could harvest methane and power itself (though we don’t know how to combust without oxygen – but some reactions produce their own oxygen by pulling it from whatever source it’s bonded with, maybe something like that exists at the surface of Titan), or maybe a high-altitude balloon with a nuke power source that could stay aloft by a jet that pushed methane instead of nitrogen/oxygen like we have here on earth.

Though I guess simulating the atmosphere of Titan here at home for testing might be difficult.

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