Cassini Provides Virtual Flyover of Saturn's Moon Titan

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Carolina Martinez 818-354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
carolina.martinez@jpl.nasa.gov

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2009-058 March 24, 2009

Cassini Provides Virtual Flyover of Saturn's Moon Titan

PASADENA, Calif. – "Fly me to the moon"--to Saturn's moon Titan, that is. New Titan movies
and images are providing a bird's-eye view of the moon's Earth-like landscapes.

The new flyover maps show, for the first time, the 3-D topography and height of the 1,200-meter
(4,000-foot) mountain tops, the north polar lake country, the vast dunes more than 100 meters
(300 feet) high that crisscross the moon, and the thick flows that may have oozed from possible
ice volcanoes.

The topographic maps were made from stereo pairs of radar images. They are available at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini .

Cassini radar team member Randy Kirk with the Astrogeology Science Center at the U.S.
Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz., created the maps. He used some of the 20 or so areas
where two or more overlapping radar measurements were obtained during 19 Titan flybys. These
stereo overlaps cover close to two percent of Titan's surface. The process of making topographic
maps from them is just beginning, but the results already reveal some of the diversity of Titan's
geologic features.

"These flyovers let you take in the bird's-eye sweeping views of Titan, the next best thing to
being there," said Kirk. "We've mapped many kinds of features, and some of them remind me of
Earth. Big seas, small lakes, rivers, dry river channels, mountains and sand dunes with hills
poking out of them, lava flows."

Kirk will present these results today at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The
Woodlands, Texas.

High and low features are shown in unprecedented detail at about 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile)
resolution. The maps show some features that may be volcanic flows. These flows meander
across a shallow basin in the mountains. One area suspected to be an ice volcano, Ganesa
Macula, does not appear to be a volcanic dome. It may still have originated as a volcano, but it's
too soon to know for sure. "It could be a volcanic feature, a crater, or something else that has
just been heavily eroded," added Kirk.

The stereo coverage includes a large portion of Titan's north polar lakes of liquid ethane and
methane. Based on these topographical models, scientists are better able to determine the depth
of lakes. The highest areas surrounding the lakes are some 1,200 meters (about 4,000 feet) above
the shoreline. By comparing terrain around Earth to the Titan lakes, scientists estimate their
depth is likely about 100 meters (300 feet) or less.

More 3-D mapping of these lakes will help refine these depth estimates and determine the
volume of liquid hydrocarbons that exist on Titan. This information is important because these
liquids evaporate and create Titan's atmosphere. Understanding this methane cycle can provide
clues to Titan's weather and climate.

Launched in 1997, Cassini completed its primary four-year mission in 2008 and is now in
extended mission operations, which run through September 2010. Over the course of the
mission, Cassini plans to map more than three percent of Titan's surface in 3-D. About 38
percent of Titan's surface has been mapped with radar so far. On March 27, Cassini will
complete its 52nd targeted flyby of Titan.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and
the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The
radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members
from the United States and several European countries.

-end-

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