The interplanetary expedition "Cassini" is proceeding, its purpose being the investigation of Saturn, its rings and the satellite Titan. The expedition is organized by NASA and European space agency (ESA) and is the most expensive interplanetary mission in the history of humanity.
In the beginning of 2005 the probe "Huygens" was landed on the surface of Titan. The terrestrial apparatuses transmitted the data, which completely change the existing scientific knowledge about the planets of the Solar system. And although the mission is in progress, it is possible to make first conclusions, the main one is the possibility of life on the Titan.
"Cassini” mission began in 1997 and will go on for three more years. The expedition already cost NASA and ESA 3.4 billion dollars. "Cassini" will complete 74 turns around Saturn and 45 turns around the Titan. The device will transmit up to 500 thousand images of Saturn and Titan to the earth. "Huygens" is transmiting information directly from the surface of the satellite of Saturn. The radio signal from the Saturn reaches the Earth in 84 minutes.
The radius of the Titan is 1.5 times larger than the radius of the terrestrial Moon, so the moon of Saturn is larger than Mercury. The orange atmosphere of Titan is wreathed in the fog from methane; it consists of a lot of nitrogen and hydrocarbons, which brings together this planetoid with the Earth. The Titan has the densest atmosphere out of all satellites of the Solar system. Judging by many parameters, the Titan resembles the Earth as it was 4.6 billion years ago.
At the end of the summer the astronomers, after processing the data of terrestrial probes, made a sensational statement, that there is a possibility of life on the surface of Titan: methane, which is present in the atmosphere in the amount of 5%, could be the product of vital activity of bacteria. Microbes can breathe in hydrogen, and use acetylene and ethane as food. Acetylene which is utilized on the Earth in different burners could be the most desired and high calorie product for the inhabitants of Titan.
To confirm this version it is necessary to reveal the decrease of acetylene concentration on the surface, and also the differences in the hydrogen content in the atmosphere and on the surface, which can be the result of vital activity of bacteria. As conservative as we are, it is hard to imagine living beings who feed on acetylene burner, to be our brothers. However, the possibility of the fact that the life on the Titan in more acceptable forms is hidden at the depth of 30 km in the hypothetical underground aqueous ocean, can’t be excluded.
Many mysteries are connected with the rings of Saturn being the most powerful in the solar system. Besides Saturn, the giants Jupiter, Uranium, Neptune also possess rings. But their rings are just children's toys in comparison with a Saturn’s one. Saturn is the only planet, which density is lower than that of water.
However, the main objective of this far away expedition was a search for an answer to the eternal question about the origin of life on the Earth. No one can guarantee that there would not arise counter interest in the terrestrial apparatus. And that’s why on the surface of the "Cassini” they fixed a computer disk protected from the meteorites, with more than 600 thousand messages from people of 81 countries, together with the imprints of a child's foot and a dog’s paw. NASA had been collecting these autographs for two years via the Internet. Besides, there are signatures of two US senators on the disk.
Ten enigmas revealed by apparatuses "Cassini" and "Huygens":
1. Molecular oxygen discovered in the rings of Saturn, makes it possible to admit their "respiration".
2. Phoebus, one of the moons of Saturn, which is considered a newcomer from the outer spaces of the Solar system and is older than Saturn, reflects only 6% of falling light and revolves around the planet in the direction, opposite to other satellites. Probably, Phoebus in the times immemorial was seized by Saturn from Koiper's belt, where the remote planets had been formed.
If this hypothesis is confirmed, scientists will obtain important information about planetary formation on the boundaries of the Solar system. Sensational is the fact, that the rings of Saturn, apparently, consist of soil, very similar to that of Phoebus.
3. In twenty years, which had passed after "Voyager" flight, the rotation of Saturn slowed down by 1%. This is an incredibly significant slow down. This sensational fact makes it necessary to revise our knowledge about interrelation between rotation of planets and their magnetic fields.
"Cassini" crossed the boundary of the shock wave between the magnetosphere of the planet and solar wind at the height of 3 million km. This is 1.5 times more than the height of the same boundary 20 years ago. However, this can mean not only an increase in the magnetosphere, but also an escalation of a solar wind, which is interesting enough too.
4. In twenty years the northern hemisphere of Saturn remarkably changed its appearance. This hemisphere unexpectedly became dark-blue and resembles Uranium and Neptune now. According to a hypothesis, the dark blue color is originated by shadow of the rings, which leads to cooling and decreasing of the height of brown clouds.
5. The landscape of distant Titan is similar to that of the Earth, it has traces of erosion, caused by winds and hydrocarbon flows.
6. The atmosphere of a small satellite Enceladus influences the magnetic field of the giant Saturn.
7. Rings and moons interact constantly, which changes the appearance of rings. Terrestrial devices watched a satellite with the glorious name Prometheus shamelessly stealing stones from the ring F.
8. A new radiation belt around Saturn was discovered, which was located between the ring D and an apex of the atmosphere.
9. A mysterious wall on the satellite Iapetus with the height of 20 km was discovered. May be some time in the past, Iapetus did encounter rings and as a result there appeared a scar at the equator in the form of a mountain range.
10. A grid of faults on a satellite Dion is inexplicably located on the opposite from Saturn surface of this body.
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