Cassini Radar Views the Surface of Titan

Elachi, C.; Wall, S. D.; Allison, M.; Anderson, Y.; Boehmer, R.; Callahan, Philip S.; Encrenaz, P.; Flamini, Enrico; Franceschetti, G.; Gim, Y.; Hamilton, G.; Hensley, S.; Janssen, M. A.; Johnson, Wesley L.; Kelleher, K.; Kirk, Randolph L.; Lopes-Gautier, R.; Lorenz, Ralph D.; Lunine, Jonathan I.; Muhleman, D. O.; Ostro, S.; Paganelli, F.; Picardi, G.; Posa, F.; Roth, L. E.; Seu, R.; Shaffer, S.; Soderblom, Laurence A.; Stiles, B.; Stofan, E. R.; Vetrella, S.; West, Richard; Wood, Charles A.; Wye, L.; Zebker, H. A.

doi:10.1126/science.1109919

Cited by 231 publications

(175 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…More recently, the Cassini RADAR instrument (Elachi et al, 2005) is providing very high resolution radar imagery of narrow swathes of the surface when in SAR mode (cf. Lunine et al, 2008), as well as lower resolution data over wider areas when in scatterometry mode (cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground-based radar observations of Titan: 2000–2008

Black

Campbell

Carter

2011

Icarus

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ground-based radar observations of Titan: 2000–2008

Black

Campbell

Carter

2011

Icarus

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“…These distinguishing features should be clearly visible at our resolutions, allowing us to resolve the question of whether cryovolcanism, and thus internal activity, is important in Titan's recent past. [38,65,138,165], implying the surface of Titan is geologically young. These craters display various stages of degradation, due to variations in age, regional erosion processes, or sedimentation infilling rates.…”

Section: Task 14b Infer Geologic and Climatic History From Layering mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fluvial networks are common within Titan's optically-bright terrains [38,81]. Clearly, then, it rains near the equator at least occasionally, if not as a continuous drizzle (e.g.…”

Section: Huygensmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microphysical modeling suggests that raindrops may reach the surface when evaporative cooling is taken into account [41]. The surface of Titan shows areas with drainage networks having various morphologies [8,26,38,81]. With strong similarities to river networks found on Earth, Titan's valley networks were likely eroded by surface runoff associated with precipitation, most likely methane.…”

Section: Task 22b Constrain Global Circulation and Cloud Formation Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

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AVIATR—Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance

et al. 2011

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We describe a mission concept for a stand-alone Titan airplane mission: Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance (AVI-ATR). With independent delivery and direct-to-Earth communications, AVI-ATR could contribute to Titan science either alone or as part of a sustained Titan Exploration Program. As a focused mission, AVIATR as we have envisioned it would concentrate on the science that an airplane can do best: exploration of Titan's global diversity. We focus on surface geology/hydrology and lower-atmospheric structure and dynamics. With a carefully chosen set of seven instruments-2 near-IR cameras, 1 near-IR spectrometer, a RADAR altimeter, an atmospheric structure suite, a haze sensor, and a raindrop detector-AVIATR could accomplish a significant subset of the scientific objectives of the aerial element of flagship studies. The AVIATR spacecraft stack is composed of a Space Vehicle (SV) for cruise, an Entry Vehicle (EV) for entry and descent, and the Air Vehicle (AV) to fly in Titan's atmosphere. Using an Earth-Jupiter gravity assist trajectory delivers the spacecraft to Titan in 7.5 years, after which the AVIATR AV would operate for a 1-Earthyear nominal mission. We propose a novel 'gravity battery' climb-then-glide strategy to store energy for optimal use during telecommunications sessions. We would optimize our science by using the flexibility of the airplane platform, generating context data and stereo pairs by flying and banking the AV instead

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“…16 These data included information about zonal winds, 17 along with the first views of Titan's surface and its spatial variability. [18][19][20] Mass spectra obtained after pyrolysis of captured haze particles showed that the organic haze included -CN and -NH2 functional groups. 16 The Cassini mission also identified a lake of liquid ethane and methane on the surface of Titan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amino Acid Precursors from a Simulated Lower Atmosphere of Titan: Experiments of Cosmic Ray Energy Source with 13C- and 18O-Stable Isotope Probing Mass Spectrometry

2013

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The organic haze of aerosols that shrouds the Saturnian moon Titan has previously been studied by both observations and laboratory simulation experiments. Here we report the abiotic formation of amino acid precursors in complex organic molecules during experimental simulation of the environment near Titan's surface with proton irradiation. Pyrolysis of the organic molecules formed in the simulated Titan atmosphere by proton irradiation at 600 C yielded compounds that contained HCN and NH3 (m/z = 27 and 17). These experimental results are consistent with the molecular information obtained by pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (pyrolysis GC/MS) of samples collected by the Huygens probe to Titan. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and three-dimensional atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the irradiation products reveal nanometer-scale filaments and globules in complex amorphous structures (approximately 1000 Da). Isotope probing experiments by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) show that oxygen atoms were incorporated into the racemic amino acids by hydrolysis of 18 O-labeled water. We suggest that the amino acid precursors possibly formed after water hydrolysis, as suggested in a previous observational study (C. A. Griffith, T. Owen, T. R. Geballe, J. Rayner, and P. Rannou, Science, 2003, 300, 628). We propose that cosmic rays are a significant and effective energy source for producing complex organics and amino acid precursors in Titan's atmospheric haze.

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Cassini Radar Views the Surface of Titan

Cited by 231 publications

References 19 publications

Ground-based radar observations of Titan: 2000–2008

Ground-based radar observations of Titan: 2000–2008

AVIATR—Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance

Amino Acid Precursors from a Simulated Lower Atmosphere of Titan: Experiments of Cosmic Ray Energy Source with 13C- and 18O-Stable Isotope Probing Mass Spectrometry

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