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11-01-2004, 04:21 AM
Titan Photos Pose New Questions
By Amit Asaravala | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1
02:00 AM Oct. 30, 2004 PT
Photographs and radar surveys from the Cassini spacecraft's Tuesday-night flyby of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan are raising more questions than they're answering, say NASA scientists.
The scientists had hoped the spacecraft's 745-mile-high flight over Titan's surface would finally reveal the lakes, craters and other features thought to be on the giant moon. But so far, the images and data returned from Cassini have only shown splattered light and dark patches that just barely resemble features seen on other rocky bodies in the solar system.
"We're left with many different questions," said mission scientist Jonathan Lunine, of the University of Arizona, at a press conference on Thursday.
Lunine likened the images and data received from Cassini to the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that doesn't have a completed photo on the box as a guide. "We don't know what the final picture is going to look like and the pieces have to be assembled over time," he said.
More on this Story (http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,65533,00.html?tw=wn_1techhead)
By Amit Asaravala | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1
02:00 AM Oct. 30, 2004 PT
Photographs and radar surveys from the Cassini spacecraft's Tuesday-night flyby of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan are raising more questions than they're answering, say NASA scientists.
The scientists had hoped the spacecraft's 745-mile-high flight over Titan's surface would finally reveal the lakes, craters and other features thought to be on the giant moon. But so far, the images and data returned from Cassini have only shown splattered light and dark patches that just barely resemble features seen on other rocky bodies in the solar system.
"We're left with many different questions," said mission scientist Jonathan Lunine, of the University of Arizona, at a press conference on Thursday.
Lunine likened the images and data received from Cassini to the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that doesn't have a completed photo on the box as a guide. "We don't know what the final picture is going to look like and the pieces have to be assembled over time," he said.
More on this Story (http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,65533,00.html?tw=wn_1techhead)