Titan has long been a place of interest to astrobiologists and it is the only thing in the solar system next to Mars of course, that has repeatedly raised the prospect that some habitable locales may indeed exist on Titan. However, what really make it a place of interest are its apparent similarities to the early Earth at the time life first started.
And when there are lakes of liquid methane on Titan’s surface that were revealed by Cassini on July 22 last year but waiting for a radar scan to bring Titan more closer on the similar terms with Earth as the French astrophysicist Christophe Sotin says- both our planet and Titan have been sculpted by processes that, fundamentally, are quite similar. A thick atmosphere composed primarily of nitrogen and abundant organic molecules (the ingredients of life as we know it) are among the important similarities between these two otherwise dissimilar planetary bodies.
However, the latest findings add to the weight of evidence that Titan is a complex world in which the interaction between the inner and outer layers is controlled by processes similar to those that must have dominated the evolution of any Earth-like planet.
So, that, I guess new speculative ideas that once again force researchers to question the definition and universal needs of life, and to consider the possibility that life might evolve in very different environments. Surely, I don’t think the time is ripe when we can think of planning a manned mission to Titan that is more similar to Earth in many aspects.
Via: Physorg
