[X] My Assistant

[ngunn]

Thinking about all that methane rain descending on Titan's south pole, draining out into Mezzoramia and then - who knows where? - set me wondering . .

IF it seeps through a porous material it could possibly warm up at depth and re-emerge gradually at the surface as methane gas. This could be a peaceful process, like the emission of methane from a terrestrial marsh (or rubbish tip) rather than anything sudden or localised. Now suppose a large sheet of impermeable material is simply laid over the ground in such a place it might begin to trap methane underneath and become buoyant. Something like this is maybe what starts mid-latitude convection cells. Could it be possible to harness the phenomenon to lift balloons? Relatively cool balloons, smaller heat loss problems, very low power requirements. With a nitrogen atmosphere and methane both readily available on Earth the technology could be tested here.

[Doc]

Balloons are fine but has there been any talk on the prospects of using plane probes. That in my opinion is the final frontier of planetary exploration. An ariel surveyor is a tantalizing approach.

The same technology used for probing hurricanes can be used to perform such a project.
Mars is suitable for the first approach. Then Venus, Titan and then who knows where.

The technology is available. It is only a matter of willingness.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2508.htm

[centsworth_II]

...the prospects of using plane probes....

To me, an autonomous plane seems much more complicated and
prone to mission-ending mishaps than a balloon. I'd rather see the
lion's share of the engineering costs going into the instruments rather
than the platform.

edit: Remember Huygens? During it's descent it was flipped around
violently and somehow ended up rotating in the opposite direction
it was designed to. (Did they ever figure that one out?)
How would an autonomous plane handle those circumstances!

[centsworth_II]

Another advantage of balloon over plane on Titan:

At the tail end of Huygens' descent, the probe reversed course on it's
ground course. As far as I know that was unexpected and unexplained.
There is a lot of mystery in the winds of titan. A balloon could help study
wind behavior at various elevations. To a balloon, Titan's winds are a
natural object of study. To a plane, they are a hazard.