Titan, Saturn’s Largest Moon, May Be the Best Bet For Earth 2

As reported in the Washington Post, Saturn’s moon, Titan, is "rich with carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen—elements required by all living organisms on Earth." The moon also contains not one but two types of wet ingredients: an underground ocean of water and, on the surface, multiple lakes of liquid methane.

Scientists with the NASA Goddard program recently detected two more pro-life signs: "a compound that can form a membrane" like the one around cells, and chains of carbon atoms that, as the Post explains, “may be the ‘universal drivers’ for the chemistry that precedes life.”

Sarah Hörst, professor of planetary science at John Hopkins, told the Post that the finding is as "though scientists have walked into a cosmic kitchen and found the oven has been preheated to 350 degrees and the flour and eggs are mixed together."

"You don’t know what will happen when you bake it," Hörst said: you could pull nothing out of the oven, or it could result in “an amazing soufflé.”

These findings come care of the spacecraft Cassini, part of the Cassini-Huygens mission--a collaboration of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

Amongst other endeavors, Cassini has taken photographs, in various wavelengths, of Saturn’s moons; it also carried a lander- Huygens – which touched down on the planet in 2005.

Now, after 13 years orbiting Saturn (and 20 years since launching from Earth), the Cassini spacecraft is taking part in its "grand finale"—a series of dives through the gaps between Saturn and its rings.

"No spacecraft has ever gone through the unique region that we'll attempt to boldly cross 22 times," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "What we learn from Cassini’s daring final orbits will further our understanding of how giant planets, and planetary systems everywhere, form and evolve. This is truly discovery in action to the very end."

What’s next? Should NASA launch another probe? Are you going to start packing for Titan? What would you like NASA to explore next? Hit on Take Action and comment below!

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)