Topic: Titan (Moon)

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What makes a planet livable? Five things scientists look for.

Scientists have so far detected at least 550 planets outside the solar system – and another 2,000-plus await confirmation. But how to pick out the ones that may be Earth-like havens for life? Here's what one team looks for in assessing any planet's potential habitability and its similarity to Earth's properties.
Europa or bust? Maybe not. Top 9 priorities for planetary research missions

The National Research Council has just unveiled planetary scientists' space-mission wish-list for the next 10 years. Tight federal budgets will provide the reality check. Here's a sampler of missions the panel recommends NASA undertake this decade.
In Pictures: Space Photos of the Day: Blast off
What's new with Titan? Five intriguing findings about Saturn's moon

This year the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has performed eight flybys of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Here are some of this year's eye-popping discoveries associated with Cassini's observations of Titan.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Rocket science

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Oxygen atmosphere found on distant Saturn moon Dione (+video)

Dione's atmosphere was detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which spotted an ultra-thin layer of oxygen ions so sparse that it is equivalent to conditions 300 miles above Earth.
What makes a planet livable? Five things scientists look for.

Scientists have so far detected at least 550 planets outside the solar system – and another 2,000-plus await confirmation. But how to pick out the ones that may be Earth-like havens for life? Here's what one team looks for in assessing any planet's potential habitability and its similarity to Earth's properties.
Titan: mile-wide dunes on Earth's frozen twin intrigue scientists

Some dunes on Titan – a Saturn moon seen as a chillier version of early Earth – are huge. Scientists now have suspicions about what's going on, but they don't yet know how Titan's version of sand formed.
A real-life 'Avatar'? Search begins for moons that could support life.

With scientists already looking for Earth-size planets orbiting in distant stars' habitable zones, a new project is using similar techniques to look for moons, too.
Europa or bust? Maybe not. Top 9 priorities for planetary research missions

The National Research Council has just unveiled planetary scientists' space-mission wish-list for the next 10 years. Tight federal budgets will provide the reality check. Here's a sampler of missions the panel recommends NASA undertake this decade.
In Pictures: Space Photos of the Day: Blast off
What's new with Titan? Five intriguing findings about Saturn's moon

This year the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has performed eight flybys of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Here are some of this year's eye-popping discoveries associated with Cassini's observations of Titan.
Africa Monitor
KFC aims to double revenue in Africa by 2012. The colonel would be proud.

KFC this week became the latest iconic American company to make significant moves into Africa, following expansion by Coca-Cola and Walmart.
NASA press conference about alien life? An E.T. rumor.

NASA plans a press conference today at 2 p.m. to discuss an astrobiology finding. The Internet buzz is that alien life was found on Titan. Not entirely true, according to reporters who have seen the research.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Rocket science
Life on Earth may have originated in the sky rather than the sea

The primordial haze theory competes with the primordial soup theory in a new scientific debate.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Voyager
How Titan might be making DNA building blocks

Saturn's moon Titan has many of the components for life – but no liquid water. A new study shows how the moon's atmosphere might be producing the molecules that make up DNA anyway.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day 08/30
In Pictures: Space photos of the day 08/27
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In Pictures: Space photos of the day 08/02
Titan's giant sand dunes shaped by 'backward' winds, study finds

The odd equatorial sand dunes found on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have been shaped by winds blowing in the opposite of the prevailing direction, new research finds.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day 07/29
In Pictures: Space Photos of the Day 07/28
In Pictures: Space photos of the day 07/12
Giant propellers spotted in rings of Saturn

Giant propeller-shaped structures appear to be created by a new class of hidden moons.
Discovery on Saturn's moon fuels speculation of alien life

Chemical data from Titan returned by NASA's Cassini spacecraft has led scientists to speculate that there are organic processes happening on the Saturnian moon's surface. But, if the data are correct, there are a lot of non-biological explanations that need to be ruled out first.
Life on Saturn moon? Earth's asphalt lakes hint at possibility of life on Titan

If alien life were found on Titan it may be of a different origin than our own.
Life on Saturn's moon Titan: Who needs water anyway?

The search for life on Saturn's moon Titan shows that organisms appear to thrive on far less water than conventional wisdom holds is needed to keep microbes active and alive.