Titan is an Alien World, but Surprisingly Familiar -
discusses a new model for this transport cycle on Titan, showing how this drives the movements of grains over Titan’s surface.
While researchers think similar processes on Earth helped form the dunes, plains, and labyrinth terrains on Titan, the sediments on Saturn’s largest moon are composed of solid organic compounds, as opposed to silicate-derived rocks found on Earth, Mars, and Venus. The ability for these organic compounds to grow into sediment grains that can be transported around Titan has left scientists puzzled until now.
“Titan has been viewed as a potential analog to Earth for a variety of reasons,” said Lapôtre. “Notably, its atmosphere is thought to be conducive to the type of prebiotic chemistry that may have given rise to life on Earth. Titan’s modern landscapes are also to a great extent analogous to Earth’s landscapes, with lakes, rivers, and fields of sand dunes.
Dragonfly is a dual-quadcopter lander that would take advantage of the environment on Titan to fly to multiple locations, some hundreds of miles apart, to sample materials and determine surface composition to investigate Titan’s organic chemistry and habitability, monitor atmospheric and surface conditions, image landforms to investigate geological processes, and perform seismic studies.
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