Share to ClassroomNASA: Titan Could Refuel Deep-Space Ships
A new study supported by NASA (the US space agency) says that Titan, Saturn's largest moon, could one day be a place where spacecraft stop to refuel. The study was led by Conor Nixon, a scientist at NASA. His team found that Titan is full of hydrocarbons — natural fuels like oil and gas. Titan is the only moon with a thick atmosphere, and it has methane gas in its air.
The plan is to use materials found on Titan instead of carrying everything from Earth. The Moon and Mars have very little methane, but Titan has much more. Its materials could be made into rocket fuel, plastic, fertiliser and even food. Water makes up about half of the moon, so it could give people drinking water, oxygen and fuel.
But there are big problems. Titan is very cold, about minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no oxygen to breathe, so it would have to be made. Spacecraft would also need nuclear power to get there faster. No mission today needs Titan's fuel, including NASA's Dragonfly aircraft, which may launch around 2028. But the team believes future missions will. Nixon says there is no other world like Titan.
