Kraken Mare in Titan is 1000 feet deep
The researchers have recently found that the largest sea in Titan (moon of Saturn) is thousand feet deep in its centre. Also, it is the size of five great lakes combined together.
About Kraken Mare
- Kraken Mare is huge liquid body located in the north pole of Titan.
- It is made of ethane and methane.
- The sea covers 154,000 square miles.
- Kraken Mare was discovered by the space probe Cassini. Cassini was developed under the collaboration of NASA, Italian Space Agency and European Space Agency. Cassini was the first space probe to orbit Titan.
- The fact that Titan consists of sea of hydrocarbons was discovered through radar images.
- An island in Kraken Mare has been named “Mayda Insula”. It is the first island to be named on a planet or moon other than the earth.
- To study about Kraken Mare and its composition, “Titan Saturn System Mission” is to be launched.
Titan Saturn System Mission
- It is a joint mission of NASA and European Space Agency. The mission is to be developed at a cost of 2.5 billion USD. It is a four-year mission. It includes two-year Saturn tour, two months of Titan aero-sampling and twenty-month Titan orbiting phase.
- The mission consists of an orbiter and two titan exploration probes. The exploration probes include a hot air balloon and a lander. The hot air balloon will float in Titan clouds and the lander will splash down on one of the methane seas of Titan.
- A mission to Jupiter called the Europa Jupiter System Mission-Laplace is delaying the Titan Saturn System Mission.
Europa Jupiter System Mission-Laplace
It is a joint project of European Space Agency and NASA. The project is to focus on the moons of Jupiter such as Europa and Ganymede and magnetosphere of Jupiter. The magnetosphere is a region in space where the charged particles are affected by the magnetic field of an object.
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Month: Current Affairs - January, 2021