In all seriousness though, I really love this stuff. I can’t believe how far we’ve come, and how far we get to continue in going. A moon in the Saturn system…I mean that is really cool.

I saw it about the time it was written, though knowing next to nothing about Titan I just thought “Yeah, ok, that’s pretty damn cool but it’s just some moon right? Perhaps I’ll read more about it later” and moved on. At about the same time, I started reading Pale Blue Dot by Sagan. It was form ’94, so a bit dated fact wise but I really like his stuff so I’ve been working my way through his books. It had quite a lengthy musing on Titan, the so-far data, how it was gathered (probably the main point) and so forth. It seemed *really* facinating, but of course woefully little was known. It did say that there were plans to put a craft in orbit along with a lander though, doing more serious data gathering by local radar and IR as well as mesurements from the lander. I instantly thought “hey, cool, I wanna see that”. Then it mentioned that it was (hopefully) going to be launched about ’97 and shoud take about seven years to get there. Hey, that’s like.. last year. Hey wait, I saw a picture from Titan on the BA Blog! That must have been the lander! Cha-ching, jackpot, I *don’t* have to wait ‘cos I’m reading outdated material and they’re there! Not that I’m a huge fan of instant gratificantion, but it’s nice when it happens to you.

The thing is, most of the planets and moons we’ve landed probes on are gravel pits. Our Moon: dark grey dust and gravel. Mars: orange sand and gravel. Venus: orange, half-melted gravel. Titan: orange, icey gravel. The makers of Dr Who and Blake’s Seven got it more right than they realised. The only thing they got wrong was the colour….

What a fantastic heap of data they’ve sent back. And the mission hasn’t even reached its half-way point yet.

I have a vague memory of either reading or hearing somewhere that people not brought up speaking Dutch physically cannot make some of the sounds in the Dutch language. I think the guttural in the back of the throat is one of them (or maybe the only one).

A lot of English visitors to Scotland have a similar problem, being unable to distinguish between the words “lock” and “loch” (or being unable to pronounce the two distinct sounds as two separate sounds).

Also, would the Tyrell corporation have sounded so cool in Blade Runner if it had been pronounced T’rll ? (It’s welsh, all one syllable)

Hmmm, high pressure and density, low temperature and gravity; sounds like the perfect combination for a hot air balloon. Well, a hot nitrogen-methane balloon. Remember that “hot” is relative. Maybe just the heat from the spacecraft’s instruments would be enough, if captured in some light rigid canopy, to float the system and let it travel around looking down at the surface.

And I have heard the helicopter idea bandied about before. On the surface, it seems pretty obvious: low gravity + dense atmosphere = aircraft. And something like a Draganflyer would be able to hover and wait for commands from over an hour away, given enough batteries. I don’t think anybody has yet really addressed overcoming the cryogenic temperatures involved, however. Keeping your robotic helicopter operating at 94K for any great length of time would be no small feat, I’m thinking. I’m reminded of Stanislaw Lem’s “The Three Electroknights”, for those of you familiar with it.

This idea has been kicked around for a while.

The atmospheric pressure on the surface of Titan is 1.5 times that of Earth, but it is so cold that its density is about five times as great. The surface gravity is around one seventh that of Earth. Therefore, a helicopter would require one seventh the thrust and one thirty-fifth the power in a hover.

While resting on the ground, the helicopter’s radiothermal generators would recharge its batteries or capacitors.

Yes, the pictures and descriptions of Titan make it looks so terrestrial. I have to keep reminding folks: the rocks are ICE. The rain is METHANE.
It’s freaking COLD. Some of the pictures during Huygens descent look even
more terrestrial. But it’s a methane bay washing up on an ice-rock shore!
Cool! Yes, literally!

Interesting, but I have no idea how to make that clear in a written blog.

Hey, I tease.

But there is the, um, “theory” that some weather can cause quakes. Here in the wonderous paradise of So. Cal. there is a common belief that “Santa Ana” conditions (when we get hot, dry katabatic winds from the high desert) can trigger quakes. Several years ago we did seem to have a run of tremors for a while that correlated with hot days, but I don’t think anyone has even proposed a causality model. It was just cooincidence.

Not so fun in the summer, but Santa Ana conditions in the winter can make a grown man weep with joy. That’s the kind of weather that makes people live here despite all the problems.

Just goes to show, a million people can tell you something and it takes nothing away from the chance that they’re all flat out wrong

It sounds like it’s pronouced “Howkunts” with more emphasis on the “h” than the “k.”

I just listened to the mp3 and there’s no way in hell you’re getting Americans to say it like that. We don’t have letters for half those sounds.

You’ll have to settle for “Hoygens” although I suppose “Howgens” would be closer.

So impress your friends and do a short lesson on how to pronounce Huygens by visiting the webpage that I just found: http://frank.harvard.edu/~paulh/misc/huygens.htm

Those of you who are interested in the history of astronomy might enjoy visiting Huygens web at http://www.phys.uu.nl/~huygens/ . Here you can read English translations of Huygens’ orginal papers in which he described his discoveries and observations of the Saturnian system. Note the peculiar anagram in the end of one of his papers!

…oh yeah, has anyone speculated on the possibility that Huygens landed on the Flying Spaghetti Monster. His Noodly Appendage is close to the consistency of mud. I hope this isn’t so, my life would be empty without Him.

http://www.randallmuseum.org/content_images/FallFlyer05.pdf (page 6)