Hydrocarbon Lake on Titan

Poststructural Pub
1

Scientists have detected the first non-terrestrial liquid lake, on Saturn’s moon Titan.

The lake is believed to be made of hydrocarbon-based liquid, possibly ethane.

It’s my personal hope that this will reinvigorate the space program with private capital, in the hopes of mining and transporting refinable liquid fuels.

A manned-mission space program is a vital next step for mankind; eliminating the dependency on terrestrial fossil fuels would be a pretty nice side-effect.

Just in case anybody from Big Oil is reading this, let me be very clear: down this path lie riches vast beyond your wildest greedy dreams. To get the riches, you must learn to walk the path. Hint, hint.

–James

2

ya know, it would be kind of a shame if we managed to irradicate ourselves before we trashed the whole solar system :smiley:

Seriously folks, we need a frontier.

We are incapable of living in a closed system.

3

Been reading Frederick Jackson Turner, Denny? :slight_smile:

4

haven’t read much of anything in the last 25 years…

sounds like Robert Heinlein to me :laughing:

5

Really…?

Methane lakes on Titan. And you think we can just scoop it up and bring it to Earth so we can have cheap fossil fuels?

um…
Solar
Wind
Hydrogen fuel cells
Air power
Hydro-electric etc… (anything but fossil fuel)

Couldn’t we just stay home and think of something better here? Do we really have to go 790 odd million miles (at it’s closest) to fill your tank?

BTW… How are we supposed to land and take off? Our best propulsion means using a controlled burn to get places. This moon is biger than Mercury and is covered in METHANE. You don’t see a problem here?

hmmm…

6

It’s not actually what we get from going that’s vital to our survival.

It’s the going itself.

Denny is right, as is Dr. Hawking.

–James

7

I prefer my hydrocarbons chlorinated, that way I can just pour them in the tank and spray.

8

bit of a trouble maker, eh!

9

Bet you find feisty, aggressive natives living around that lake.

10

Explosive tempers no doubt.

11

Not really, maybe the smell :stuck_out_tongue: . Methane burns (oxidizes) in the presence of Oxygen. I don’t recall anyone detecting oxygen on Titan. The biggest problem with taking off from Titan is having to bring enough oxidizer to Titan to get back off.

dave boling

12

Why not just drive Titan itself? (That’s no moon. It’s a … ) :astonished:

djm

13

That’s why I use a Titan booster exclusively for all my solar system travel needs, don’t need no stinking oxidizer.

14

Actually, methane has no odor, it’s just that it is mixed with smelly substances in certain contexts.

That would be an interesting world for aerospace propulsion. Jet engines would run on oxidizers rather than fuel. The cold and hydrocarbons have resulted in at least one lake of rocket fuel. The lower gravity would make getting into orbit easier. That, combined with the cold might make jet engine boosters practical for that world.

15

Okay, I’ve read a wee bit about him! I’d haved like him!

I blame this mess on the industrial revolution. I wonder what he would have made if that little altercation.

16

Anyone else notice the lake is in the shape of a footprint?