From why it could work, to why we would want
to go there at all, join me as we explore
the potential of Saturn's Moon Titan being
an alternate Earth!
8.
Why Titan?
That is the question, isn't it?
Why would we consider going to a place like
Titan to be a "new home" for humanity?
Especially when we have Mars, an actual planet,
that we're prepping for.
And Titan is a moon, not a planet!
Well, if you are willing to lower your skepticism,
there is some hard science that states why
Titan might just be a viable place for us
to live on.
In terms of size, Titan is bigger than you
might think.
It is the largest moon that orbits Saturn,
and it is bigger than our moon and even the
planet Mercury.
That beings said, it's only 40% the size of
Earth, so that would be a small problem.
However, what it lacks in space, it makes
up for in gasses and hydrocarbons.
Specifically, liquid hydrocarbons, which has
many scientists thinking that this is a great
place to go because the amounts of liquid
hydrocarbons that they're seeing on Titan
is greater than that of the entirety of Earth:
"Titan is just covered in carbon-bearing material—it's
a giant factory of organic chemicals", said
Ralph Lorenz, who leads the study of Titan
based on radar data from Cassini.
"This vast carbon inventory is an important
window into the geology and climate history
of Titan."
Just to give you an image of what you can
expect by that statement, there are literal
seas and lakes filled with methane, ethane
and other liquid hydrocarbons.
Some have even been measured to be bigger
than the Great Lakes in the United States.
And since Carbon is an important part of life
as a whole, that means we would be able to
use the gas deposits to help fuel our culture...whatever
we put there that is.
And that's only the start of the reasons why
Titan could work.
7.
Atmosphere
As anyone who has studied our planet will
tell you, the most important thing on Earth
isn't our land masses or even our water, it's
actually the atmosphere that allows us to
breathe and protects us from space.
Our atmosphere is comprised of many elements,
and these elements help protect us from harmful
radiation via the sun and space.
One of the difficulties in finding a suitable
replacement for Earth in our solar system
is that no planet or moon has our exact atmosphere.
Mars doesn't even have one, as it was destroyed
a very long time ago.
Yet, with Titan, it does have an atmosphere,
and one comprised of very familiar elements:
oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and methane, all
of which are in our own atmosphere.
Because of this, some scientists have stated
that Titan is the "most hospitable" place
in our solar system that humans could survive
at.
At that's only scratching the surface of what
these gasses can do for us.
For example, while the water on the planet
may not be able to be drinkable as it stands,
it can be filtered to not only drink, but
produce more oxygen into the air.
And, the Nitrogen, methane and ammonia that
is within the atmosphere and the planet can
be used to make fertilizer, and thus allow
us to grow food on the planet when the time
comes.
The reason Mars is considered for colonization
is because it's a hard rock planet that we
can make work via various technologies.
But until we learn how to make an atmosphere,
we'll have to be in protected domes and colonies.
On Titan, that possibility may not be needed.
We could live on Titan as we live on Earth...if
the right steps are taken.
6.
Energy Resources
We lightly touched on this before, but let's
talk about how we would get power on Titan
should we "move there".
After all, we can't bring all the energy resources
from Earth to the moon and just expect to
get up and go.
We can bring generators to start, but eventually
those will die and lose power so clearly we'd
need something else to fuel us long-term.
Thankfully, Titan naturally has a lot of options
for us to use.
Some outlined by scientists after studying
the surface of Titan include chemical, nuclear,
wind, solar and hydropower.
While it may seem obvious, the number of different
ways we can make power via these options is
very important in the long run.
As Earth has shown us, focusing on one specific
power source to fuel much of humanity leads
to a lot of problems.
However, when it comes to the variety we have
on titan, including the vast amount of gasses
and liquid hydrocarbons that the place has,
we're able to utilize all sorts of different
energies to power us and our devices.
A somewhat out of the box suggestion is using
turbines in the methane seas to generate power,
as their tides are fueled by Saturn itself,
and that would allow us to get a lot of power
without having to do much.
Redundancy is a word you likely don't think
about too much, but in this case, having multiple
layers of redundancy in regards to energy
production means that we can live without
fear of cascading power failure outside of
truly divine or unpredictable incident.
Which for a colony is a very important safety
net to have.
Before we continue to explore the possibilities
of Saturn's moon Titan, be sure to like the
video and subscribe to the channel!
5.
Gravity
So we've shown that we can potentially live
on Titan, and that we have the resources (potentially)
to thrive on there.
But there are other factors that need to be
considered when thinking about putting down
a colony.
Such as...gravity.
You don't have to think about gravity too
much on Earth, mainly because it's constant
and you never feel like it's pulling you down.
But, if you were to go to our moon, you'll
feel 6 times lighter.
Which is fun, but it would take some getting
used to if you wanted to live there.
So where does that leave Titan?
Ironically, its gravity is a little less than
the Earth's moon is.
Not by much, but enough.
You might be thinking, "Why would a lesser
gravity be a detriment if we can get used
to it?"
Well it's because you're thinking about it
in the mental sense.
Us having to adjust mentally to being much
lighter than what we're used to.
But rather, you need to think about it in
the physical sense.
Long-term exposure to gravity less than what
we're used to can cause all sorts of problems
on the human body.
This was discovered in force via astronauts
on the International Space Station.
For while previous astronauts were in space
via the Mercury and Apollo missions, rarely
were they gone above a week or two.
But on the ISS, they were up there for up
to a year or more at a time.
That's a lot of exposure to microgravity as
is it known.
The side effects of long-term microgravity
is a weakened bone structure, as well as a
weakened immune system.
Which could bring a lot of problems to humanity
on Titan if not countered.
Granted, we do have a partial fix for this,
as rigorous exercise on the ISS astronauts
while on the station has proven to counteract
the bone density problem.
What's more there are ways to help boost the
immune system of people, it's just not been
tested in a literal colony.
To be clear, this isn't an indictment on Titan,
it's rather a cautionary warning that the
moon may be good for us to colonize, but it's
not a perfect solution to our 'problem'.
4.
Travel
Here's another aspect that I doubt you were
thinking about in regards to colonizing Titan.
How would we move about the moon?
We could walk, obviously, especially once
we get used to the microgravity of the place.
However, because of the gravity, we have another
option open to us that is a bit more sci-fi
and WAY cooler.
Mainly, we could technically have the ability
to fly on Titan.
This is due to the gravity and atmosphere
of Titan.
The density of the atmosphere, when combined
with the gravity elements allow people to
not just jump through the air, but actually
cut through it much more easily than we do
right here on Earth.
Air density is a big reason why planes and
other similar aircraft need massive wings
to get lift to rise off the ground.
But on Titan, we wouldn't need to have that,
and with the right small equipment, we could
be riding through the skies of Titan to get
to where we need to go.
There are even those out there who believe
that we could use a type of spacesuit and
jetpack like device using the natural gasses
and such of the atmosphere to fly.
Which of course would make this sci-fi nerd
very happy.
Granted, this would have to be tested thoroughly,
however, it would mean that we could have
a fun, safe, and economically friendly way
of getting around should we live there.
3.
It's Better Than Mars
I know that may sound like a rather odd statement,
especially as humanity is working frivolously
to try and get to Mars both in terms of spacecraft
(not counting satellites and probes and rovers
obviously) but also in terms of making a true
human colony.
Both NASA and SpaceX (run by Elon Musk) are
working hard right now to try and make that
happen.
But, for many, they just don't see Mars as
a viable place for us to live long term.
And many scientists have stated that compared
to Titan, Mars just isn't a good place for
us to try and populate.
As noted earlier, Titan has an atmosphere,
and it's the only one of the 177 moons in
our solar system to have such a thing.
Meaning it's pretty rare.
Compared to Mars that has no atmosphere and
thus is bombarded with all sorts of space
rays and radiation that we'd have to shield
ourselves against in order to survive.
To be fair, we would have to wear protective
suits on Titan in order to survive, but that's
to a much lesser extent.
As the temperature of Titan is very cold,
much colder than Mars, and thus we'd have
to protect ourselves from that else we'll
freeze.
But it's much less protection than we'd need
on Mars.
Plus, when comparing resources that are already
abundant on Titan, Mars just doesn't compare.
We'd have to land on Mars in the polar ice
caps just to get water to survive.
Whereas Titan has much more readily available
materials for us to use.
The main reason that we're considering Mars
versus Titan is distance.
As Titan is near Saturn which is the sixth
planet in our solar system, three away from
Earth.
While Mars is our literally neighbor planet
wise.
However, should the distance problem be solved,
Titan would be the viable option out of everything
currently in our solar system.
2.
The Sun Issue
As I just mentioned, the surface of Titan
is really cold, and due to that we'd have
to have protection from the temperature.
However, that's not the only issue with Titan
in regards to the sun.
Due to its position around Saturn, and Saturn's
position to our sun, we're not going to have
a lot of light on the surface.
Scientists estimate that the max light output
during the "day" will be about as bright as
Earth is after sunset, which isn't too bright.
Add to that, because of the distance from
the sun, photosynthesis will be incredibly
hard to handle.
As we can't count on the effects of the sun
to grow our plants in the way they do on Earth.
The answer to this is technology, which we
are already doing on Earth to help make plants
grow.
It's just that on Titan it'd have to be to
a much larger scale.
A scale that many would have to prepare for
in order to make the moon more habitable more
quickly.
Again, not a detriment to the cause, but something
we'd need to plan for.
Of course...there's always the sci-fi option...
1.
Terraforming
Heading very much into the "sci-fi realm"
of making Titan a perfect place for us to
live on, let's talk the notion of Terraforming.
For those who don't know the concept of it,
it's basically transforming the landscape
of an area from what it is...to what you want
it to be.
Like I said, very sci-fi, and yet, there are
those who are working to try and make this
happen on a large scale.
And if we're being honest, we know that terraforming
is possible because of how our own planet
works.
There are times when a once lush area gets
turned into a desert.
That's a type of terraforming.
Or how farmers will work a barren land and
give it nutrients and water in order to make
it able to produce plants.
That's a type of terraforming.
Usually though, when the word is thrown around,
you're talking about having a device of a
"laser" that can be fired at a place and cause
widespread changes to a planet in the course
of minutes or even seconds depending on how
good the technology is.
And to be clear, that is theoretically possible...we
just don't know how to do it yet.
But, whether it's the fast or slow version
of terraforming, it is a viable way to make
Titan a much better place for us to live.
Mainly because it has the bones to make it
very Earth-like, we just have to nudge it
in the right ways so that the people who live
there can prosper.
It's doubt that the technologies we use to
terraform will ever be so advanced that we
can just replicate Earth (cause if we could
do that we would just go to Mars and do it
in a snap), but in regards to changing it
subtly to fit our needs, that's very much
within the realm of possibility.
Thanks for watching!
What did you think about the potential for
Titan to be the next place we colonize?
Do you think it'll happen?
Or will we stick with Mars?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure
to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!
