Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored

Do you want to know what it's like to be on the front lines of a planetary mission? If you do, then this book is for you! Authors Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton, have written an outstanding book that describes the most recent episodes in the unfolding story of the exploration of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Lorenz and Mitton, begin by describing the dropping in of the Huygens probe on the surface of Titan. Then, they examine the state of knowledge about Titan at the time when Cassini and Huygens arrived in the Saturn system. Next, the authors discuss the arrival of Cassini in the Saturn system on July 1, 2004 after a very long trek from earth. They continue by focusing on the last speculations the science teams had about Titan, getting to work on the first results from Cassini's initial approach and the Titan flyby. In addition, the authors also discuss the probe's decent onto Titan on January 14, 2005. They also describe the Cassini flyby events in chronological order. Finally, the authors discuss the 16th flyby of Titan that took place on July 22, 2006; as well as, present and future mission objectives. The authors of this most excellent book give prominence to two investigations: First, the surface of Titan and its interaction with the atmosphere have been the most mysterious; and second, the Huygens probe and the RADAR instrument on the Cassini orbiter. More importantly, the authors believe that the atmosphere and the surface of Titan in particular, will interest general readers the most.

Rare is the work that meets the high publication standards within a given scientific discipline while being simultaneously accessible to the public at large. In particular, and notwithstanding its cachet and increasing multidisciplinary approach, the field of planetary sciences often offers up works that are either overspecialized to the point of alienating all but a very select readership or those works appealing to a broad audience but derisively dismissed by experts as popularizing and superficial. Bridging the wide chasm separating these two extremes requires talented writing. LIFTING TITAN'S VEIL: EXPLORING THE GIANT MOON OF SATURN, by Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton, is a book that accomplishes this with a professionally credible, yet highly readable, account of mankind's attempts to unravel the mysteries of Saturn's largest moon. Lorenz and Mitton succeed in this collaboration due in no small part to their highly impressive credentials. The former is one of today's most prolific planetary scientists, especially regarding the study of Titan, and also a participant in the current Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan. The latter, with a Ph.D. in astrophysics, is a renowned science writer credited with authorship or co-authorship of sixteen astronomy-related works. Answering, in the most basic way, the "why" question that often accompanies any discussion of planetary exploration, the authors write, "More than anything else, planetary exploration gives us a sense of perspective, a notion of who we are, where we came from and what our destiny might be. We can learn from all worlds. Each planet and moon in the solar system has its own unique history. Each is an experiment with a different set of conditions..." More specifically, they note that Titan, with its orange-tinted, nitrogen-rich 1.5 bar atmosphere containing traces of hydrocarbons and other organics, might represent an analogue, albeit a cyrogenic one, of the prebiotic atmosphere surrounding early Earth. Considering that mankind has yet to demonstrate time travel, studying Titan may be the only way (outside of modelling and laboratory experiments, both of which have obvious limitations) to explore this critical phase in Earth's history. It goes without saying that studying Titan, especially in situ, is exploration at the cutting edge.Coming at an especially propitious moment, the book provides a comprehensive synthesis of the body of Titan-related science, which is placed into historical context. Starting with the moon's discovery in 1655 by Christiaan Huygens, the Dutch astronomer, LIFTING TITAN'S VEIL spans a time frame of three and a half centuries of astronomical observations leading up to the modern era of spacecraft reconnaissance and exploration. The book is organized topically, with a distinct narrative style (e.g., the unique "Ralph's Log" feature), and runs the gamut from astronomy to meterology to geology to speculation about future Titan exploration. I highly reco

This book is fun for whoever loves science.Its an example of applying science to data gathered from earth telescopes and space probes,mainly through the eyes of Hubble and Voyager. Attempts at explaining theoretical models behind possible chemical and physical processes at work on this moon are made.It would be interesting to compare the current thinking with what Cassini will actually reveal in a years time!

This is an exciting time for planetary exploration, when after the solar system has been reconnoitered by spacecraft (except Pluto) and now spacecraft are being sent to specific planets and moons, etc., for closer examination. LIFTING TITAN'S VEIL covers the Cassini mission to Saturn and it's large moon Titan, known to possess a thick atmosphere and perhaps a hydrocarbon ocean, due to insert itself into Saturnian orbit in July, 2004, the attached Huygens probe should enter Titan's atmosphere January, 2005. The authors include a lot of science in this volume, including background information concerning moons and planets across the solar system. Most of this book covers Titan of course, what we know about it and how we came about that knowledge, from early times to the present. Titan's atmosphere and surface and sub-surface conditions recieve the most attention, with the chemistry of the atmosphere discussed at length. Also, the authors debate the possibility of an ethane/methane ocean existing on Titan as the surface temperature, according to available evidence, is close to the triple point of methane. All of this science can of course, as the authors point out, shed light on the formation and evolution of the solar system and in turn give us clues to our own origins in the misty past. As a chemist I especially enjoyed the information on the chemistry of Titan, and the space-buff in me enjoyed all of it. In addition, the Cassini spacecraft is detailed, and there are lots of illustrations, many in color. On a personal note, I remember being at the space center as a visitor just a few days before the launch of Cassini, in October, 1997, and thinking that here is this spacecraft sitting out there on the pad just a few hundred yards from the Atlantic beach, I wondered then, will Huygens, at the end of it's journey, find another beach? Space travel is cool!

In "Lifting Titan's Veil", Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton have written a lucid account of what we know about Titan, and how the Huygens probe which will parachute down to its surface in 2005 is designed to tell us more. As a research scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory whose doctoral thesis was on the topic, Ralph is well placed to sift through the various competing theories. In fact, he designed the probe's spear-like penetrometer which - if all goes to plan - will be the first human artefact to come into contact with this intriguing moon's surface. As an avid reader on the topic, I thoroughly recommend this book.