For twenty-five years following the Voyager mission, scientists
speculated about Saturn's largest moon, a mysterious orb clouded in
orange haze. Finally, in 2005, the Cassini-Huygens probe
successfully parachuted down through Titan's atmosphere, all the
while transmitting images and data. In the early 1980s, when the
two Voyager spacecraft skimmed past Titan, Saturn's largest moon,
they transmitted back enticing images of a mysterious world
concealed in a seemingly impenetrable orange haze. "Titan Unveiled"
is one of the first general interest books to reveal the startling
new discoveries that have been made since the arrival of the
Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan.
Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton take readers behind the
scenes of this mission. Launched in 1997, Cassini entered orbit
around Saturn in summer 2004. Its formidable payload included the
Huygens probe, which successfully parachuted down through Titan's
atmosphere in early 2005, all the while transmitting images and
data--and scientists were startled by what they saw. One of those
researchers was Lorenz, who gives an insider's account of the
scientific community's first close encounter with an alien
landscape of liquid methane seas and turbulent orange skies. Amid
the challenges and frayed nerves, new discoveries are made,
including methane monsoons, equatorial sand seas, and Titan's polar
hood. Lorenz and Mitton describe Titan as a world strikingly like
Earth and tell how Titan may hold clues to the origins of life on
our own planet and possibly to its presence on others.
Generously illustrated with many stunning images, "Titan
Unveiled" is essential reading for anyone interested in space
exploration, planetary science, or astronomy.
A new afterword brings readers up to date on Cassini's ongoing
exploration of Titan, describing the many new discoveries made
since 2006.
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