(TiME) mission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

(TiME) mission - Essay Example The TiME team proposed a mission to land on the methane surface of Saturn’s moon to explore and interact with its atmosphere. Among the goals that were set to be achieved by TiME include: carrying out for the first time a direct inspection of an extraterrestrial sea, measure and sample the organic makeup of a different planet directly and give the first ever extended in situ research of a liquid volatile cycle away from earth. The other proposal of the group was called Comet Hopper or Chopper. The proposal involved placing a Lander on the surface of comet 46P/Wirtanen to study its composition. Since it was to have thrusters it would be able to move from one part of the comet to the other. The Titan Mare Explorer Mission was to explore directly an environment that is like an ocean beyond earth. The vessel known as TiME was to both land and float on this sea of methane-ethane cloudy and complex moon. The team for this mission was lead by principal investigator Ellen Stofan of Proxemy Research Inc. While the TiME capsule was to be built by Lockheed Martin in Denver. Instruments would have been gotten from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, APL and Malin Space Science Systems. The technology that would have been used is one of a kind. Titan has an atmosphere that is thicker than that of the earth, this means solar power would not have been use and battery would only be sufficient for a few hours. This would have left the option of using Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG). This would have provided power that is four times that of radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). Before TiME there were other missions that had similar objectives such as Solar System Decadal Survey which could see its launch in 2020s if considered under the Titan-Saturn System Mission, and Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer or â€Å"TALISE†. The latter is based