@mike_malaska@deepspace.social
2026-05-23 18:16 UTC
That also means that Enceladus flyby, or Orbilander mission, is a precursor mission.
There will always be that need to drill all the way down to the deep subsurface ocean to get that chemical inventory.
The deep drill mission won't happen in my lifetime. But we are building the cathedral.
Replies (1)
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@mike_malaska@deepspace.social 2026-05-23 18:32
You can also imagine a whole set of missions that will build these comparative datasets: Titan Dragonfly surface organics of Titan Titan orbiter (something similar to proposed Oceanus T-mass instrument) Titan shallow drill to get to organic deposits over deep time Deep cryobot mission to Titan subsurface ocean Titan surface mission to Menrva crater ejecta to get ancient deep ocean inventory. (We know Titan does de novo organic synthesis) Others include: