NASA scientists have created an amazing submarine that will explore one of Titan’s large lakes. Titan is the largest moon orbiting Saturn. Titan, the celestial object with clear evidence that there are stable liquid bodies on its surface, is the one in our solar system. Scientists would love to see their sub-aquatic vehicle travel to Titan in the next 25 year. Cassini, an unmanned spacecraft, detected many liquid bodies on Titan while it orbited Saturn in 2007,. The largest was Kraken Mare. NASA intends to submerge its submarine there. By 2040., the aquatic drone may be exploring Kraken Mare on Titan. NASA Image. According to Cassini data Kraken Mare can reach 160 meters in depth and is capable of producing small waves. The autonomy submarine/aquatic drone will be able to travel 2 ,000 kms during its 90-day time in the lake. The sub will be approximately 1 ton and was designed in accordance with the features found on Earth’s current drones. What will it do to transmit data to Earth? It will however be different than Earth’s aquatic drones. Because there is no orbiter on Titan, it will have to transmit messages more than one million miles from Earth. Scientists have determined that Titan Sub will transmit messages only when it’s on the surface. They plan to integrate a planar phased array antenna in the vehicle’s front fin. Although this could affect some maneuverability, researchers considered it the best choice. It was also difficult to place the buoyancy control tanks due to the location of the communication system. A mast-mounted camera with a lens will film the underwater drone while it is hovering above the surface of the lake. A side-scan sonar, which maps the lake’s floors while the submarine lies below water level, will also be used to locate sediments that can then be analysed by a “benthic sampling device”. Titan’s atmosphere is different from Earth’s. NASA doesn’t know what Titan’s lake is made of but thinks it to be a mixture of propane, methane, and ethane. Scientists predict that the environment will be dominated by propane and methane. The scientists assume that more methane is present and therefore have included this higher density in the design of their aquatic probe. The temperature is low enough to make Nitrogen liquid. This makes filling the buoyancy tanks difficult for the researchers. It is difficult to land the drone on Titan because submarines don’t have a lot of aerodynamic properties. The drone must be able to travel at a high speed through dense atmospheres, then splashdown impacts. NASA suggests that the drone be packed into a spacecraft like the X -37 autonomous craft plane. This vehicle is intended to land on the water. The sub will then be released after splashdown. Scientists from the Universities Space Research Association, Houston wrote that the vehicle would employ conventional propulsors and yaw to move around. A sun sensor would determine Earth’s initial azimuth. (Earth is always within 6deg as seen by Saturn). Then, the sub would be released and communicate with Earth using a terrestrial radio transmitter. NASA Video – Titan submarine. This NASA Glenn Research Center video showcases one concept submarine that could explore the coastline as well as the deepest parts of this bizarre world.
NASA engineers create Titan submarine for exploring lake on Saturn moon.
