00:00Get ready to take off, because NASA is announcing exciting news.
00:06You want to discover the fascinating world of Titan, the moon of Saturn.
00:12NASA's revolutionary Dragonfly spacecraft should take off in 2027 to explore this mysterious space object.
00:21Let me introduce you to Titan.
00:24It is an icy celestial body whose atmosphere is filled with nitrogen and which could even have an underground ocean.
00:31Titan also houses rivers and lakes on its surface.
00:35But guess what? They are not filled with water like on our beautiful planet.
00:39They contain methane.
00:43Now let's see what the celestial references of Titan are.
00:47It is not a moon like the others.
00:49It is the second largest of our entire solar system.
00:52It is only 2% smaller than the largest moon of our neighborhood, Ganymede, close to Jupiter.
00:59The size of Titan is even a shame to Mercury.
01:02And did I mention that its atmosphere is four times denser than that of Earth?
01:07Thanks to the low gravity and the thick atmosphere of this moon,
01:11Dragonfly is the ideal robotic companion to discover these hidden treasures.
01:17Let's move on to the machine itself, the star of NASA's next mission to Titan.
01:21This cosmic drone is not an explorer like the others.
01:24Equipped with a panoply of amazing gadgets,
01:27Dragonfly is like a flying laboratory ready to uncover all the secrets of Titan.
01:32This is the first interplanetary probe of type rotor lander.
01:36And it was designed to give us a spectacular experience.
01:41And don't trust its name.
01:43This dragonfly will not be content with wandering at random.
01:47It is a technological marvel capable of gliding for several kilometers
01:51between different places on the surface of Titan.
01:54It is a bit like a cosmic Uber for scientists.
01:57And since we are talking about technology,
02:00Dragonfly carries really cool equipment.
02:03The probe will be equipped with an instrument called Draco,
02:06which will allow to pick up materials on Titan.
02:09While the Dragonfly mass spectrometer, or Dramess,
02:13will analyze the composition of these samples.
02:17But how did we come across Titan?
02:21On March 25, 1655,
02:24an Irish astronomer explored the cosmos with his telescope.
02:28And here he sees something amazing.
02:31It's Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
02:35Almost 300 years later, in 1944,
02:39another very cool astronomer came on stage.
02:43By doing experiments with light,
02:46he discovered that Titan actually had its own atmosphere.
02:51The story does not end there.
02:53In 1979, the Pioneer 11 probe decided to take a tour of Saturn's system.
03:00It confirmed all the interesting hypotheses
03:03that scientists had formulated about Titan,
03:06such as its temperature and mass.
03:08However, there was a small mistake.
03:11These scientists thought that Titan was the largest moon in the entire solar system.
03:15And no, they were wrong.
03:17In any case, Titan has a mysterious and dense atmosphere
03:21that keeps everyone in suspense.
03:26Now let's move on to the 1980s,
03:29when the 1 and 2 traveled probes made their big entrance into space.
03:33These cosmic explorers flew over Saturn
03:36and wanted to observe the surface of Titan.
03:39But Titan then decided to play hide-and-seek with them.
03:42Its misty atmosphere did not allow them to see what was going on.
03:46And all that the two travelers managed to capture
03:49are images of an orange and lonely world.
03:52However, they spotted a pretty blue mist in the high atmosphere.
03:58Things started to get really exciting in the 1990s.
04:03The Hubble Space Telescope joined the party
04:07and decided to take Titan's clichés using a special infrared light.
04:11This clever device managed to pierce the mist, and voila!
04:15Hubble images revealed areas of different colors on Titan,
04:19a bit like a gigantic cosmic chessboard.
04:22We now know that there is even a bright spot as wide as Australia.
04:27However, despite these fantastic images,
04:30the mystery of what is hidden under the mist of Titan was still not resolved.
04:36It was in 2004 that Cassini and his European acolyte, the Huygens probe,
04:40went for a tour over there.
04:43They formed a perfect duo to face Saturn.
04:47Cassini began to orbit the planet around the beautiful rings
04:50and immediately focused his attention on Titan.
04:53Then the big moment finally arrived.
04:55On January 14, 2005, the Huygens probe pierced Titan's atmosphere.
05:02During its descent, Huygens collected all kinds of amazing data
05:06by taking pictures and analyzing the atmosphere.
05:09The probe then transmitted this precious information to Cassini,
05:13who, like a cosmic courier, sent them to us,
05:16to us, the earthlings who waited impatiently.
05:19Over the next 13 years, Cassini approached Titan more than 100 times,
05:24using all kinds of sophisticated instruments to observe the surface and atmosphere of the Moon.
05:30Scientists were finally able to confirm that Titan had clouds,
05:34lakes and rivers, and that rain even fell on its surface.
05:41Fortunately for us, Titan is not the only moon in our solar system
05:44likely to shelter from life.
05:47Take the wonderful moon of Neptune, Triton.
05:51It is the largest moon on this planet, but it is also a real curiosity.
05:57Among all the moons we know, only 5 have a geological activity.
06:02And guess what?
06:04Triton is proudly part of this prestigious club.
06:07It even has geysers that spit out gaseous nitrogen.
06:13Imagine Triton as a fashionista in a beautiful ice dress.
06:17Its surface is mainly made up of frozen nitrogen,
06:20which gives it a glacial air.
06:22If you ever go there, don't forget to bring a coat hanger.
06:26You may be wondering how Triton manages to warm up in such a cold environment.
06:30Well, it has a secret weapon, the forces of the tide.
06:35Triton and Neptune deliver to a magnificent cosmic dance
06:38that generates a gravitational friction.
06:41And it seems to produce heat, which helps to warm up Triton's waters.
06:46Speaking of heat, you may be expecting me to tell you
06:49that there could be life on Triton.
06:52Alas, it is about as likely as discovering a unicorn skateboarding.
06:57Voyager 2, the only mission to have flown over Triton,
07:01made its trip in 1989.
07:04And if you hope that another mission will soon land on Triton,
07:08let's say that the stars don't align exactly in your favor.
07:11Literally.
07:13The possibility of a mission to Triton only occurs every 13 years.
07:17Because our planet and Jupiter must be perfectly aligned
07:21for a landing to take place.
07:24Scientists would use the gravitational attraction
07:27of the largest planet in our solar system
07:30to safely land a probe on Triton.
07:33Now let's talk about the elephant in the room.
07:36Or rather, the polar bear.
07:38It is so cold on Triton that the chances of survival are as slim as a toothpick.
07:43Sorry, little potential microbes,
07:45you may need a few extra poles to settle here.
07:49Even if Triton is not the most welcoming place for life,
07:53it is a celestial gem that deserves to be explored.
07:57Scientists think that Triton has not always been part of Neptune's family.
08:03In fact, Triton was probably wandering about his business,
08:07dragging itself aimlessly in the distant belt of Jupiter.
08:11Neptune, with its powerful gravitational force,
08:15then tore up Triton and made it an entire moon.
08:20Like our faithful satellite,
08:22Triton is also caught in a permanent face-to-face with Neptune.
08:26One of Triton's faces still has its eyes on the planet.
08:32As for the fate of this amazing moon,
08:34things are not a long-term happy war.
08:37It is already getting a little closer to Neptune every day.
08:40You may be wondering why.
08:42The problem lies in the interactions of tides,
08:45which do not really play in favor of our friendly satellite.
08:48Its orbit is oscillating.
08:50It is as if it were getting closer to the slow of its planet.
08:55Scientists predict that in about 3.6 billion years,
09:00Triton will cross an invisible border.
09:03If the current calculations are correct,
09:05two scenarios are possible.
09:07Either the satellite will collide with Neptune's atmosphere,
09:11or it will break into small pieces.
09:13In this last case,
09:15a brand new ring system will form around Neptune,
09:18like the one we observe today around Saturn.
09:21Triton is not the only satellite that could end up like this.
09:25Phobos, one of Mars' moons, should also disintegrate.
09:29And this sooner, within 30 to 50 million years.
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