# Cassini's Titian flyby today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 26, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232 "2004-10-26T14:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/1 "2004-10-26T14:33:43Z")
Ok I’m early but I hadn’t thought the Cassini probe was going to approach Titan this _early_. [Apparently](http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-releases-04/20041025-pr-a.cfm) > [@](#): > > Cassini will fly by Titan at a distance of 1,200 kilometers (745 miles), with closest approach at 9:44 a.m. Pacific Time. This flyby will be nearly 300 times closer than the first Cassini flyby of Titan, on July 3. Damn I’m excited to find out what’s down there! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/2 "2004-10-26T14:48:56Z")
Here’s the Astronomy Picture of the Day on the subject: [http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/](http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/) ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/3 "2004-10-26T15:40:28Z")
Titian flyby? Damn, is it [off course](http://www.abm-enterprises.net/artgall2/titian_venus_of_urbino.jpg)!! ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/4 "2004-10-26T16:05:08Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Titian flyby? Damn, is it [off course](http://www.abm-enterprises.net/artgall2/titian_venus_of_urbino.jpg)!! Although one can surely understand the interest in studying heavenly bodies, and twin moon systems… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/5 "2004-10-26T17:24:13Z")
Damn, think I just got an erection from those photos. Can’t wait until the lander drops. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/6 "2004-10-26T17:46:32Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Here’s the Astronomy Picture of the Day on the subject: > > [http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/](http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/) How stupid do they think we are? That’s a fuzzy extreme closeup of a pomegranate. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/7 "2004-10-26T19:35:04Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Titian flyby? Damn, is it [off course](http://www.abm-enterprises.net/artgall2/titian_venus_of_urbino.jpg)!! Beat me to it. I was going to make a somewhat more obscure art-history joke about whether Huygens was going to give us a definitive analysis on the chemical composition of the color blue, but now I don’t get to. Oh, wait. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/8 "2004-10-26T19:48:45Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > Although one can surely understand the interest in studying heavenly bodies, and twin moon systems… 😃 My thought exactly! This is a probe intended to discover the Planet of Large-Boobed Voluptuous Women, celebrated on the cover of many a pulp SF magazine but never yet scientifically catalogued. (One of the main reasons that the Golden Age of SF is 13! ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/9 "2004-10-26T20:21:55Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > This is a probe intended to discover the Planet of Large-Boobed Voluptuous Women … You’ll note that I _did_ link to a picture of Venus. 😉 In all seriousness [this](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia06107.html) is a very cool picture!! I can hardly contain my excitement to see what tomorrow will bring! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/10 "2004-10-27T00:13:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by Ponder Stibbons > Titian flyby? Damn, is it off course!! > Although one can surely understand the interest in studying heavenly bodies, and twin moon systems… “If I had my way, those two moons would achieve individual escape velocity!” she growled… (from a short fantasy story by Theodore Cogswell. The lady speaking is upset that her man is contemplating the charms of another lady, and he has compared them to moons. It’s the first thing that came to mind when I read that.) ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/11 "2004-10-27T12:08:05Z")
Latest [pictures](http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/events/titana/index.cfm). And unfortunately, that’s pretty much what we’re going to see for now. These pics are soooooo much more than has ever seen before, but they leave me wanting … We won’t see any better pics until mid-December when it finally gets close enough to go into orbit. Then, of course, the “big drop” in January. Ooooooooo!!! ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/12 "2004-10-27T16:30:15Z")
This is damned exciting ideed. Another body in our own solar system with clouds and an atmosphere, and oceans and dry land. Wow! even if the oceans are liquid methane… ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/13 "2004-10-29T18:16:22Z")
Here’s the first [radar shot](http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06984). I can barely see any cratering! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/14 "2004-10-29T21:14:41Z")
Are the big smooth areas seas, either liquid or frozen? The apparent lack of terrain on display here is somewhat startling. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/15 "2004-10-29T21:17:50Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > We won’t see any better pics until mid-December when it finally gets close enough to go into orbit. Then, of course, the “big drop” in January. Ooooooooo!!! Isn’t the lander going to be dropped on Christmas Day? ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/16 "2004-10-29T22:36:15Z")
I thought Christmas was when it was to be released from Cassini and head towards Titan. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/17 "2004-10-30T00:32:12Z")
That’s right. Huygens will be released on 12/25/04 and will rendezvous with Titan on 1/14/05. See the “tour schedule (pdf)” link on [this page](http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/saturn-tour.cfm) for a detailed list of projected event dates. In reading other articles on today’s images, it’s apparently possible the smooth dark areas are drifts of snow, rather than seas. Ooo, this is cool. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/18 "2004-10-30T02:02:19Z")
You know with the tempertures being what they are (damn cold) maybe the continents are floating ice, or frozen ethane or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![BytopianDream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BytopianDream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BytopianDream)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassinis-titian-flyby-today/271232/19 "2004-10-30T03:18:39Z")
OH wow oh wow! I can’t wait to see this stuff. Titan is the coolest moon ever! Our moon is nice, with its tides and maybe helping life along and stuff… But Titan has chemistry! Come ONNNNNNNNNN January!