Exploring Titan with Balloons and Landers

Exploring Titan with Balloons and Landers

"Titan's of particular interest because the abundant and complex organic chemistry can teach us about chemical interactions that could have occurred here on Earth (and elsewhere?) leading to the development of life.  Furthermore, not only does Titan have an interior liquid-water ocean, but there will also have been opportunities for  organic material to have mixed with liquid water at Titan's surface, for example impact craters and possibly cryovolcanic eruptions.  The combination of organic material with liquid water, of course, increases astrobiological potential."

"Heavier-than-air mobility at Titan is in fact highly efficient, moreover, improvements in autonomous aircraft in the two decades since the CSWG make such exploration a realistic prospect. Multiple in-situ landers delivered by an aerial vehicle like an airplane or a lander with aerial mobility to access multiple sites, would provide the most desirable scientific capability, highly relevant to the themes of origins, workings, and life."

Matthew Williams

Matthew Williams

Matt Williams is a space journalist, science communicator, and author with several published titles and studies. His work is featured in The Ross 248 Project and Interstellar Travel edited by NASA alumni Les Johnson and Ken Roy. He also hosts the podcast series Stories from Space at ITSP Magazine. He lives in beautiful British Columbia with his wife and family. For more information, check out his website.