Should we send humans to Titan?

universe today The possibility of sending humans to Jupiter’s icy moons, Europa and Venus has recently been studied, despite the harsh surface environments of each. While it may be possible for humans to carry out missions to these special worlds in the future, what about farther out in the solar system, to a world with less harsh surface conditions but still unsuitable for human life? Here we investigate whether Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, could become a viable location for transporting humans at some point in the future. Titan lacks the scorching temperatures and crushing pressure of Venus, nor the harsh radiation experienced by Europa. So, should we send humans to Titan?

Yes!Dr. Jason Barnes, a professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Idaho, spoke excitedly universe today. Titan is the second safest place in the solar system after Earth. It is not irradiated, pressurized, and can achieve great scientific results through manned exploration.

In addition to his academic responsibilities, Dr. Barnes is deputy principal investigator for NASA’s upcoming Dragonfly mission, a gyrocopter designed to explore Titan’s origin-of-life chemistry and liquid methane lakes and oceans, as well as Titan’s atmosphere Contains 95% nitrogen and 5% atmospheric methane. Powered by the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG), which currently powers NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, Dragonfly will carry a suite of instruments to help determine Titan’s habitability potential, Titan In addition to being the largest satellite of Saturn, it is also the second largest satellite in the solar system. The largest is Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.

While Dragonfly will conduct the deepest surface exploration of Titan, it will not be the first spacecraft to land on Titan’s surface, as that honor belongs to the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe, which launched in January 2005 Landing on Titan’s surface and transmitting data About 90 minutes after landing, the battery ran out. Additionally, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft conducted in-depth studies of Titan at various times during its mission from 2004 to 2017. But with all this scientific research already being done by these robotic explorers, what additional scientific research can be done on robotic missions compared to human missions to Titan?

Similar to Mars, humans with boots on the ground could accomplish more exploratory science faster than robots, says Dr.barnes told universe today. Additionally, if life or prebiotic chemicals were discovered on Titan, people on site could more safely study that life without the risk of contaminating Earth backwards. Finally, due to its safety, Titan is a prime target for long-term human habitation. Outward into the solar system.

Dr. Barnes said that in terms of human orbital missions to Titan versus ground missions universe today, manned orbital missions have no scientific significance. Robotic orbiters do a great job, and our experience shows that human remote sensing does not provide any advantages over robots. But long-duration ground missions with bases and ground mobility could open up a whole world of science.

This world of science includes up-close studies of Titan’s prebiotic chemistry, biochemistry and organic chemistry, as well as the short- and long-term effects of how liquid methane in Titan’s atmosphere, oceans and lakes affected such chemical reactions. However, living on Titan’s surface also comes with countless challenges. While Titan is well shielded from harmful solar radiation, its surface is unbearably cold and extremely dark, as the measured surface temperature is -179.2 degrees Celsius (-290.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and Titan’s surface It is estimated to only receive 0.1% of solar radiation. Sunlight received by the Earth. But how else might this world of science present additional challenges for human explorers on Titan’s surface?

Dr. Barnes told us that the apparent challenge may be that if efforts are not made to avoid the organic molecules that make Titan so interesting from entering the habitat, they may have carcinogenic effects on the crew. universe today. Another challenge is generating electricity there—you essentially need to carry a nuclear reactor with you because there is no local way to generate the electricity needed to power manned exploration.

In addition to the challenges of living on Titan’s surface, there are concerns about the distance and travel time from Earth to the Saturn system, as some missions take at least several years to reach the Saturn system, even if they take that long. direct route. For example, NASA’s Pioneer 11 spacecraft, launched in 1973, flew by Jupiter and took six and a half years to reach Saturn. Just a few years later, NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft were launched in 1977 and took three years, two months and four years respectively to reach Saturn after flying past Jupiter. While NASA’s Cassini mission has conducted the most in-depth survey of Saturn and its many moons, the spacecraft still has six years and nine months to go after two gravity assists at Venus, Earth and Jupiter. to reach Saturn.

Currently, the fastest spacecraft to reach Saturn is NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which takes only two years and four months to reach Saturn along a direct orbit to Pluto. So even if a human mission went directly to Titan, it would take at least two years to arrive. Therefore, such lengthy travel times could hamper any supply or rescue operations for human missions to Titan.

Dr. Barnes told us that the travel time would be so long that any such expedition would need to be a fairly arduous undertaking. universe today. Although astronauts will not be exposed to radiation on Titan’s surface, they will be damaged by solar storms along the way, at least in the inner solar system. They are far from home and would be unlikely to be rescued if their systems failed, so they need to carry extensive backups.

Will we send humans to Titan? Will we learn more science than from robotic missions like Dragonfly? What will such a mission teach us about living and working far from Earth? Only time will tell, that’s why we’re scientific!

As always, keep doing science and keep searching!