Tue, 21 May 2013 00:13:56 -0700 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/ Lussumo Vanilla 1.1.4 & Feed Publisher http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=209777#Comment_209777 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=209777#Comment_209777 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:11:22 -0800 stsparky 'Boat' could explore Saturn moon


A daring proposal to try to put a "boat" down on a sea of Saturn's moon Titan is about to be submitted to Nasa.
The scientific team behind the idea is targeting Ligeia Mare, a vast body of liquid methane sited in the high north of Saturn's largest moon.
The concept will be suggested to the US space agency for one of its future mission opportunities that will test a novel power system.
It would be the first exploration of a planetary sea beyond Earth.
"It is something that would really capture the imagination," said Dr Ellen Stofan, from Proxemy Research, who leads the study team.

I'd love to see terminally ill but otherwise sound team of scientist/astronauts make an one way journey of discovery to give the world a more human POV on the outer system. ]]> http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210041#Comment_210041 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210041#Comment_210041 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:17:22 -0800 James Cunningham
In other news, $1,000,000,000 extra in next year's NASA budget, which is less than they wanted but more than expected in the current economy. I'd be happier if they threw some real money at NASA, from the bank bailout money maybe, but this will do nicely for the moment. ]]> http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210066#Comment_210066 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210066#Comment_210066 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:59:50 -0800 William George Science Boats of Titan

Didn't Ray Bradbury write that? ]]> http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210425#Comment_210425 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210425#Comment_210425 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:02:32 -0800 Phranky http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210440#Comment_210440 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210440#Comment_210440 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:53:13 -0800 stsparky http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210670#Comment_210670 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=210670#Comment_210670 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 10:20:06 -0800 256
I'd be interested to see how they intend to actually, you know, sail around a lake that's under heavy cloud cover and is, after all, about 1.4 billion km away when successfully sailing around on Earth is not always a trivial matter. I guess it'd be a sort of semi-submarine/submersible thing with a very reliable ability to right itself even from being completely upside-down - it'd be a pity to end the twenty year journey of a billion dollar probe by dropping it into a 100-year storm at the Titanian (Titanic? not a good omen...) Cape Horn and have it immediately sink.

On the other hand, getting a satellite, rover, or instrument package to another planet is already so unbelievably tricky that the added difficulty of designing a space boat might not be that much of an issue. ]]> http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=211111#Comment_211111 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=7443&Focus=211111#Comment_211111 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:51:13 -0800 BrianKellett
Naaah - science ain't important.

(*figures may well be wrong - I *have* after all been drinking - http://alunsalt.com/2009/12/24/stfc-and-the-fall-of-the-roman-empire/ ) ]]>