One of the most exciting exploration in our solar system's quest for life is Saturn's moon Titan. The climate, weather, desert-like areas, and, perhaps most significantly, rivers, lakes, and seas make up this rare moon. But these seas are not water-composed. They are made up of liquid methane instead.
Now, an exploration into Titan's largest sea, Kraken Mare, reveals that it is around 1,000 feet deep at its maximum depth. The recent result made it a prime target for submarine explorations.
An artist's impression of NASA's Voyager 1 space probe passing behind the rings of Saturn, using cameras and radio equipment to measure how sunlight is affected as it shines between the ring particles. The image was produced in 1977, before the craft was launched, and depicts events due to take place in 1980.
The experts examined data that passed through Titan from NASA's Cassini mission. Previous experiments had looked at the depth of other seas on the moon. Still, they had yet to calculate the largest and most intriguing.
What Makes Kraken Mare So Special?
Lead author Valerio Poggiali, a research associate at the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science (CCAPS), said in a statement that the depth and structure of each of the seas of Titan are already being measured except for the largest ocean of Titan, Kraken Mare.
The journal also states that Kraken Mare is packed with liquid ethane and methane hybrid.
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It is important to consider Kraken Mare and Moray Sinus's depth and structure in this sense since it helps a more detailed evaluation of the methane hydrology of Titan. Even, there are more puzzles we have to solve," Poggiali added.
According to Poggiali, the ocean is not only deep but wide as well, almost the size of all five Great Lakes combined. The sea is vital to the moon's weather system, close to the Earth in several respects. That is one reason why it is interesting to look for signs of life.
How Submarines Could Explore Titan's Sea
Agencies such as NASA are still working on robotic submarines to explore oceans in other continents. Titan will be an ideal candidate for a submarine probe. Research into the liquid seas on Titan could also help researchers learn more about climate model growth, which could also help us understand Earth's climate.
All this data processing and creation of theories will feed straight into the development phase of every potential submarine mission to one of the largest moons of the Solar System. Several variables go into the design of every possible mission. However, it is now evident that it will have plenty of space to work in the alien seas for which it is planned, no matter what the craft's scale.
And suppose we one day want to send them to this fascinating place. In that case, this research will allow better fine-tuning of robotic explorers. "Experts can now predict the density of a liquid with greater accuracy due to their measurements, and thus better adjust the sonar onboard the vessel and comprehend the directional movements of the sea," Poggiali said.
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