April 16, 2024 Dear Friends, Twenty years ago today was a day that we on Cassini, and especially those of us on the imaging team, had eagerly awaited ever since our mission to Saturn had been officially started, the science teams had been formed, and we had all set about designing and building the scientific instruments we would fly to Saturn.
As always, Dr. Porco is a very skilled writer. I thank her for this illuminating and interesting report of the conditions on Titan discovered by Cassini! A very intriguing place indeed!
Thank you so much for sharing that, Dr. Porco. You are truly an inspiration! What a wonderful time to be alive and marvel at the discoveries that we as a species have revealed. You have been an important part of those discoveries and we are all indebted to you and your colleagues. Thanks for all you have done!
We live in an exciting time! I hope in my lifetime, I get to see a probe sent to explore the Methane lakes of Titan, or the oceans of Europa and Enceladus. How I exciting and suspenseful would that that moment be!
Brilliant! I remember, during the Cassini descent, someone quoting Coleridge's 'Kubla Khan' during the fantastic livestream pressconference - what a moment! I deeply appreciated that thoughtful and evocative nexus between the arts and the sciences as a Coleridgean (and, let me tell you, so would Samuel Taylor Coleridge himself!).
I think it was a man - it might've been the JPL livestream? I remember him flubbing the lines because it was all so exciting and emotional (and completely understandable to flubb lines, given the occasion!). I might rewatch the JPL livestream that's on YouTube, see if it's that one. Goosebumps await!
I seem to remember it was Cassini, because while Xanadu's on Titan, there was a mismatch between hearing about Xanadu while Cassini was descending into Saturn (but I deeply appreciated the mention of STC, because I love hearing him everywhere). Will circle back if/when I find the reference. I wish I'd seen Huygens livestream when that happened, but I completely missed that at the time.
Carolyn's description of Titan's landscape starting with, "And in the mind's eye, it is a strange place indeed." is fantastic. She paints it in terms that it feels like we're standing on its surface.
Titan and Enceladus are just begging to be explored up close by humans; hopefully I will live long enough to witness it. Just imagine propane harvested from Titan’s atmosphere cooking a steak someday. ⛽️ 🪐
As a fan of the ringed planet from early childhood, Cassini enriched my time on Earth immeasurably. I cannot thank you and your team of imagers enough.
Thanks for bringing Titan to life for us! I love its secrecy, alien composition, and the nomenclature of the moon's geological points. Here's a slam-style poem inspired by it...
As always, Dr. Porco is a very skilled writer. I thank her for this illuminating and interesting report of the conditions on Titan discovered by Cassini! A very intriguing place indeed!
Thank you very much!
Beautifully written. X
Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing that, Dr. Porco. You are truly an inspiration! What a wonderful time to be alive and marvel at the discoveries that we as a species have revealed. You have been an important part of those discoveries and we are all indebted to you and your colleagues. Thanks for all you have done!
Thank you for your kind words.
The best science of mankind. I am waiting for Enceladus.
If it was 2017, then you are right. It was the death of Cassini.
We live in an exciting time! I hope in my lifetime, I get to see a probe sent to explore the Methane lakes of Titan, or the oceans of Europa and Enceladus. How I exciting and suspenseful would that that moment be!
Brilliant! I remember, during the Cassini descent, someone quoting Coleridge's 'Kubla Khan' during the fantastic livestream pressconference - what a moment! I deeply appreciated that thoughtful and evocative nexus between the arts and the sciences as a Coleridgean (and, let me tell you, so would Samuel Taylor Coleridge himself!).
What part of Kubla Khan did they quote?
The first few lines, which namecheck Xanadu, as well as the sense of that methane ocean:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
As a space-exploration nut, I was squealing with joy at the history-making livestream, as a Coleridgean I was beside myself :D
Do you remember who is was that read it?
I think it was a man - it might've been the JPL livestream? I remember him flubbing the lines because it was all so exciting and emotional (and completely understandable to flubb lines, given the occasion!). I might rewatch the JPL livestream that's on YouTube, see if it's that one. Goosebumps await!
And you don't mean Cassini descent. You must mean Huygens, right? It took place in Germany?
I seem to remember it was Cassini, because while Xanadu's on Titan, there was a mismatch between hearing about Xanadu while Cassini was descending into Saturn (but I deeply appreciated the mention of STC, because I love hearing him everywhere). Will circle back if/when I find the reference. I wish I'd seen Huygens livestream when that happened, but I completely missed that at the time.
How cool is that?
And you have Sagan's talent for writing. Please, never stop amazing us!
Thank you very much!
You are very welcome !
Thanks for this description of the exploration of Titan; can't wait for the Dragonfly mission!
Carolyn's description of Titan's landscape starting with, "And in the mind's eye, it is a strange place indeed." is fantastic. She paints it in terms that it feels like we're standing on its surface.
Titan and Enceladus are just begging to be explored up close by humans; hopefully I will live long enough to witness it. Just imagine propane harvested from Titan’s atmosphere cooking a steak someday. ⛽️ 🪐
As a fan of the ringed planet from early childhood, Cassini enriched my time on Earth immeasurably. I cannot thank you and your team of imagers enough.
Thanks for bringing Titan to life for us! I love its secrecy, alien composition, and the nomenclature of the moon's geological points. Here's a slam-style poem inspired by it...
KRAKEN MARE
collar the kraken.
hear her holler.
put your back into holding her down,
folding her crown under secrecy’s haze.
obscured to the gaze,
the dragon be drowned in a methane lake.
you’ll never be found 'cause you’ll never awake―
opaque to your fate hackin the ground.
cover the mar in hideaway mounds.
the ring’s hollow sound haunting the grave.
too late to escape titan’s guilt as it pounds
what you lack in the good-come-around.
a monster probed by the foolishly brave,
snackin on clowns to stay hidden from fame.
let her lie―
the kraken wound round your name.