Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

December 2, 2008 10:23:29 AM CST

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

Want Oil? Try Saturn's Titan

Posted Feb 14, 08 5:09 PM CST in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Titan, one of Saturn's dozens of moons, has supplies of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons hundreds of times greater than Earth’s oil reserves, Space.com reports. The unmanned Cassini spacecraft has mapped only 20% of Titan’s surface with radar, and has already discovered dozens of bodies of hydrocarbon liquid, each one of which more volume than Earth’s entire oil supply.

The Cassini team hopes to learn from Titan, thought of as a kind of pre-biological Earth, about the transition from hydrocarbon chemistry to biological life. "We are carbon-based life, and understanding how far along the chain of complexity towards life that chemistry can go in an environment like Titan will be important in understanding the origins of life throughout the universe,” said one scientist.

Source Space.com

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • Hidden Ocean Found on Saturn Moon

    Mar 21, 08 4:13 AM CDT
    NASA has unlocked two more of the solar system's secrets, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The Cassini orbiter discovered evidence of an underground ocean churning deep below the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, and the Mars Odyssey spacecraft has found ancient salt deposits on the red planet. Both discoveries have scientists excited about fresh possibilities of finding extraterrestrial life. More »

  • NASA Discovers Seas On Saturn's Moon

    Mar 14, 07 9:18 PM CDT
    NASA Discovers Seas On Saturn's Moon NASA's radar detected evidence of huge seas—one of them larger than any of the Great Lakes—on the surface of Saturn's moon, Titan. Although the spacecraft, Cassini, cannot confirm that the dark images are liquid until passing over the area again as scheduled in May, scientists believe they are bodies of liquid ethane or methane gas. More »

Titan is pictured next to the Earth in this size comparison composite. Scientists announced yesterday that Titan may contain more oil reserves than Earth.   (Wikimedia Commons)
Titan is photographed from the Cassini%u2013Huygens spacecraft.   (Nasa.gov)
Saturn and its moon Titan at the upper left are seen in this 1979 image from NASA's Pioneer 11.   (nasa.gov)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Titan - A Place Like Home? Another Earth?   (BBCWorldwide (YouTube))
Landing On Titan   (BlueSkyBag (YouTube))

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (
1
 of 2)

Tags

NASA • oil • space exploration • Earth • Saturn • Cassini • Titan • hydrocarbon


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other Science & Health Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser a team of editors and writers culls the most important stories from hundreds of U.S. and international sources and reduces them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. It's the Newser guarantee: we can take any report or column or video and pack what you need to know into 120 words or less. Newser's short-form aggregation, visual format, and unique information tools help you get more of the kind of news you want, in a quicker and more entertaining way. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »