TOPIC: Cassini needs your help!

Hey fellow TDers!  I am doing this thing tomorrow talking about the state of Cassini and some of the recent discoveries we have been making.  This is for the public and I'd like to get your input, what you like, what you don't like, what you think might be missing.  All comments welcomed but I need to submit this in about an hour.<br /><br /><br />>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><br /><br />Greetings and Happy New Year from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California.<br /><br />My name is Douglas Equil s, one of the Science Systems Engineers on Cassini here to share the latest news from Saturn.<br /><br />Imagine for a moment, standing on the shore of an alien world, looking out across a lake filled with liquid methane.  This is one of the discoveries that Cassini has made as it continues to shed light on Saturn’s mysterious moon, Titan. (…continues to piece together clues about Saturn’s mysterious moon, Titan) PIA08352: Improving the View of Titan)<br /><br />As you can see in this recent image (PIA09102: Liquid Lakes on Titan), the RADAR team has unveiled hundreds of lakes filled with liquid methane and ethane near Titan’s north pole as well as more evidence of rain, dry river beds, and erosion. <br /><br />During another recent flyby, the RADAR team also uncovered wind-swept dunes and dissected plateaus near Titan’s equator as you can see in this just released image (From Steve Wall).  These dunes are visually not unlike the dunes that you would find in deserts on Earth.  ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Titan_dunes.jpg )<br /><br />Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer team has also imaged what appear to be clouds billowing from giant cryovolcanos that are spewing forth an icy lava onto Titan’s surface (Bonnie’s Image?)<br /><br />Titan isn’t the only place Cassini has been though.  Here you can see a recently released movie of Saturn’s moon Hyperion which was taken over a period of 12 hours..  PIA08349: Multicolor Hyperion<br /><br />Cassini has also captured several stunning shots of storms brewing in Saturn’s upper atmosphere.  PIA08844: Saturnian Squiggles<br /><br />Looking to the future, Cassini will again sail past Titan on January 13, 2007, capturing never before seen images in Titan’s northern latitudes searching for more lakes, mountains, and other topographical features.  Cassini will also image an area on Titan’s surface known as Ganesa Macula (PIA06988: Diversity on Titan).  This feature is thought to be a cryovolcanic dome created by a mixture of water and ammonia that erupted and then seeped onto the surface of Titan to form a pancake like structure.<br /><br />Exciting things are on Saturn’s horizon so stay tuned.<br /><br />From Pasadena, California, this is Douglas Equil s with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory wishing you a joyous New Year.<br /><br /><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<br /><br />Please share your thoughts and feedback.<br /><br />Thanks!<br />-Douglas<br /><br />

Douglas,<br /><br />1 thought/question.<br /><br />Why no mention of the Rings?<br />Or do you feel that has been adquately addressed in the alst one which got its ref in teh cover to NG.<br /><br />1 thing on consistency,<br />In the previous vid 12.22.06, haven't checked the previous one, but the farewell wishes included from Saturn. Didn't know if consistency was an issue or not.<br /><br />1 thought on word choice, Pancake?<br />I dunno, jsut seems odd. But if thats how its been refered to then for consistency I suppose go iwht that.<br /><br />Very cool, thank you for sharing that and including us forumites. <br />

Joyus,<br /><br />I could mention the Rings and this probably reflects a personal bias but I only have 2 minutes to talk and something had to go.  =(  I might even take out the Hyperion Reference if time doesn't allow it.<br /><br />Yeah, in the last video, Todd threw in the "from Saturn" part at the end.  Consistency with this isn't important.<br /><br />Believe it or not, "pancake" is a term frequently used to describe these dome-like structures. <br /><br />Thanks for the feedback.  =)

news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20070104/tc_usatoday/lakeeffectmethanechillstitan <br /><br />HOOT Cassini flys by on my Birthday!

Douglas,<br />      How did your talk on the state of Cassini go?<br /><br />Kim

It went OK.  I'll post something tomorrow for those that might be interested.  <br />

I would love to hear about it.<br /><br /><br />Widseth