[X] My Assistant

[algorimancer]

Any showstoppers? I would envision something similar to the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory (RTG's are a given). Lot's colder on Titan... rough on lubricants, and parts would be brittle. Not sure whether the organics would pose a problem in the way of gumming up the works, but it doesn't seem likely at liquid methane temperatures. Smaller world, lower gravity, thick atmosphere... I'm inclined to think that a simple copy of the MSL, perhaps with some added insulation, would work just fine. The only alternative I've been hearing about is a balloon-borne probe, but that doesn't allow the same level of geologic prospecting.

[ljk4-1]

Has someone considered a Titan airship that would drop ministations
across the moon and then deposit some explosive charges a short
distance away to record the effects?

The ministations could also serve as weather stations for as long
as they can survive. Hopefully by the time such a mission arrives
at Titan, batteries will last much longer than Huygens did.

Or maybe they could get energy from the moon itself? Perhaps by
converting some of the local chemistry to fuel?

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

Or maybe they could get energy from the moon itself? Perhaps by
converting some of the local chemistry to fuel?

Windmills!!

Green energy!

Nobody expected winds on Titan surface, due to the scarcity of solar energy. But there seems to be noticeable winds generated by tides on the atmosphere.

Are such winds really strong enough to run a wind mill? I don't know. And anyway it will have some drawbacks too. But if it works, it may be a very convenient source of energy for a local station, which could then last one or two years, at least as long as the buffer batteries hold. It's enough to catch titan quakes, if there are, or Titan meteorology.