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Saturn.
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The rings are made of ice particles.
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We also now know that Saturn is orbited
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by over 60 natural satellites.
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The largest of Saturn's satellites
is a moon called Titan.
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It is enveloped in a thick atmosphere,
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one filled with orange haze.
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In 2005,
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a NASA probe penetrated
the veil of mystery,
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and sent back the first
images of the surface.
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The terrain looked amazingly familiar.
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Black lines branched out over the surface.
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They looked just like rivers.
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And numerous lakes were discovered.
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This was the first time any
celestial object had been found
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with liquid on its surface.
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The more the probe investigated,
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the more Earth-like Titan seemd to be.
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It was at this point that
scientists began to suspect
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that life might be present.
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Maybe in the seas, more
interesting things happen.
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Maybe you get self-replicating
chemical systems
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much like those that are the first steps
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towards living systems that
are deep in our own history.
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So Titan gives us a whole
new set of possibilities.
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There's the possibility that
maybe there is life on Titan
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that has somehow found a way to make use
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of all of these building blocks
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that the atmosphere is making for it.
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However, the temperature on Titan
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is -180 degrees Celsius.
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Could life really exist there?
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How do we know it's too cold?
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Imagine you're living on Titan
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and you're looking at the Earth.
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You'd say, "Oh, there's a
liquid, there's organics",
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"there's energy, but it's too hot."
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Titan has both an atmosphere and liquids.
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Could life exist there?
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This planetary body, very similar to Earth.
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Saturn's moon, Titan.
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Imagine the journey from Earth to Titan.
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If you could travel at the speed of light,
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you'd pass Mars about four
minutes into the voyage.
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At the 30-minute mark or so,
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you would pass the giant ball
of gases known as Jupiter.
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Then, some 70 minutes after departure,
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you would finally arrive at Saturn
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surrounded by those beautiful rings.
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Like Jupiter, Saturn is
a large gaseous planet.
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Finally, you'd reach Titan.
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With a diameter of 5,000 kilometers,
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Titan is about three-fourths
the size of Mars.
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It's a moon the size of a planet.
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Fully cloaked in that orange haze,
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Titan's true appearance was not known
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until the 21st century.
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1997 saw the launch of the
Cassini-Huygens mission.
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The Cassini orbiter equipped with cameras
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and other instruments, and
carrying the Huygens probe
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was sent to investigate
Saturn and its moons,
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especially Titan.
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In 2004, seven years after liftoff,
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Cassini-Huygens reached
the vicinity of Saturn,
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1.4 billion kilometers from the Sun.
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Cassini then proceeded to enter
into orbit around the planet
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and its satellites, and to
commence scientific observations.
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It took this image of Titan.
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For the first time,
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Titan's true features began to show
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from under that thick haze.
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The day was approaching when
we would finally be able
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to see the surface of Saturn's giant moon.
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In December 2004,
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the Huygens probe separated from Cassini,
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and coasted to Titan.
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The target landing site
was near Titan's equator.
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What that site would
be like, no one knew.
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Titan's atmosphere is
1,000 kilometers thick.
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The probe entered it.
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Huygens deployed a parachute
and drifted down,
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jettisoning its heat shield.
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This image, taken from a
height of 152 kilometers,
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was Huygens' fist view of Titan,
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which was still obstructed by haze.
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Huygens was shooting still
images as it descended.
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Its microphone also captured the sound
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of the wind rushing by.
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This was the first sound recording ever
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made of an alien environment.
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These images of Titan's surface
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were taken by Huygens from
16,000 kilometers up.
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Black veins like the branchings
of a river are visible.
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It does look as though they're flowing
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to the mouth of a river.
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Now, from 8,000 meters above Titan.
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It looks just like the sort of coastline
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we're used to seeing on Earth.
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Finally, the landing.
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This is an image taken by
Huygens just after landing.
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What look like rocks and pebbles
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strewn about over a flat plain,
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are actually chunks of ice.
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The surface temperature
is -180 degrees Celsius.
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Atmospheric pressure is a
little higher than Earth's,
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1.5 bars.
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The horizon seems blurred by mist.
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This is exactly like some rocky
desert landscape on Earth.
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High above, the Cassini orbiter
continued its observations.
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In the equatorial region where
the Huygens probe landed,
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Cassini discovered a strange pattern.
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Some sort of regular striping.
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Further observations
found similar striations
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covering some 20% of Titan's surface.
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Ralph Lorenz has dedicated himself
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to investing the strange striped pattern.
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He is trying to solve the
mystery of Titan's stripes
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by comparing them to
patterns he finds on Earth.
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This is the Mojave Desert
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in the western United States.
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Lorenz believes Titan's stripes
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are like the peaks and troughs
of desert sand dunes.
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There are, indeed, real similarities.
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It's remarkable somehow that despite
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the different gravity,
the thicker atmosphere,
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and the different material
that the sand is made of,
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somehow the landscape ends up looking
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00:10:52,125 --> 00:10:54,961
almost exactly the same
as many places on Earth.
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By comparing the shape of the dune
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and the interaction with the
rest of the environment,
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we can get an understanding
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of how these structures formed.
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For example, different shapes of dunes
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form in different wind patterns.
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00:11:15,739 --> 00:11:17,884
So the goal is to solve the mystery
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of Titan's stripes by investigating
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terrestrial desert dunes.
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Lorenz's first step is to
send up a kite with a camera
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00:11:26,612 --> 00:11:28,763
for an aerial overview.
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00:11:33,632 --> 00:11:35,028
He is looking for a place
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that has a striped pattern like Titan's.
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Next, he mounts a dune
buggy equipped with GPS.
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He wants to measure the heights of dunes
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and the angles of their slopes.
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The shapes of sand dunes
change by the minute.
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Lorenz plants a stake
with a streamer attached.
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In fact, he plants a whole
line of them along this slope.
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This will show what sort of
wind creates this type of dune.
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The wind is blowing from screen
left across a gentle slope.
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Then it swirls around
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as if to carve out that slope to the right.
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So it's become clear that here,
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the wind flows from the milder slope
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over and down the sharper slope.
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Lorenz believes that the stripes on Titan
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are also wind-sculpted sand dunes.
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A closer look at that
image of Titan's stripes
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shows ridges with milder
and sharper slopes,
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similar to those in the Mojave Desert.
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So Lorenz conjectures
that the wind on Titan
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must've been blowing from left to right.
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The winds blowing on
Titan's dunes, however,
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are thought to be weaker
than the winds on Earth.
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The reason for that is that
Titan's gravitational force
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is only one-seventh of Earth's.
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A relatively small lashing
can produce a big result.
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So on Titan, effects similar
to those seen on Earth
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are being produced by mild winds.
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Titan is still an active world
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where, geologically speaking,
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processes are still happening.
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And the fact that we can see
sand dunes for example,
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suggest that the winds
that move the sand around
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are still active, that we're
seeing a dynamic planet
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much like the Earth.
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There was another unexpected aspect
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to those images taken by Huygens.
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Look closely at those chunks
of ice on the ground.
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They are reminiscent of
stones turned over and over
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by rivers on Earth.
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Sharp edges are worn down.
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They're rounded like pebbles.
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So there may well be liquid on Titan.
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This discovery attracted
attention and astonishment.
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Meanwhile, the Cassini orbiter
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made a surprising discovery of its own.
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Black spots and blotches were visible
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near Titan's north pole.
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Radar observations showed them to be lakes
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filled with some liquid.
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They number in the hundreds,
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and some of them are huge.
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This is the first time liquid
has been found on the surface
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of any celestial body other than Earth.
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The lakes are dotted with
islands and fed by rivers.
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But with a surface
temperature of -180 degrees,
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any water on Titan would've frozen.
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00:15:39,717 --> 00:15:43,775
What liquid could it be in
these lakes and rivers?
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This is it.
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Liquid methane.
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On Earth, it's normally a vapor,
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but at extremely low temperatures,
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it condenses into a liquid.
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Methane melts at -182 degrees Celsius.
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It boils at -161 degrees.
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In the 20 degree range
between those two extremes,
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it exists in a liquid state.
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The temperatures on Titan's surface
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are just right for liquid methane.
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00:16:24,337 --> 00:16:26,932
Methane is composed of one carbon atom
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and four hydrogen atoms.
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It's the simplest hydrocarbon,
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and it constitutes the bulk of
the liquid in Titan's lakes.
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A portion of the liquid is ethane,
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another hydrocarbon with
similar characteristics.
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Scientists at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory are trying
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to determine how Titan's
methane lakes were created
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by conducting experiments here on Earth.
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00:16:56,617 --> 00:16:59,731
Christophe Sotin is an
expert on bodies of ice
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found in the solar system.
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This device is called the Titan Chamber.
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00:17:11,667 --> 00:17:14,642
With internal air pressure at 1.5 bars
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and a temperature of -180 degrees Celsius,
224
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it reproduces Titan's
environmental conditions.
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Inside is placed a disc of ice
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00:17:23,912 --> 00:17:26,754
standing in for the terrain on Titan.
227
00:17:31,127 --> 00:17:33,894
They then release droplets
of liquid methane
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onto the surface of the ice.
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00:17:41,603 --> 00:17:44,225
The methane disappears immediately,
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absorbed by the ice,
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like water being swallowed
up by a thirsty earth.
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00:17:53,731 --> 00:17:57,527
So it was a big surprise,
something we did not expect,
233
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is that when the methane falls on the ice,
234
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actually the methane got
sucked into the ice.
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00:18:06,266 --> 00:18:07,886
It gets absorbed.
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00:18:07,887 --> 00:18:10,484
It doesn't run on the ice.
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00:18:16,427 --> 00:18:19,085
However, if methane continues to drip
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00:18:19,086 --> 00:18:21,379
onto the ice, eventually,
239
00:18:21,380 --> 00:18:24,177
it begins to pool on the surface.
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00:18:28,769 --> 00:18:32,226
This suggests that wherever
there are lakes on Titan,
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the surrounding ice must
be saturated with methane.
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During its landing on Titan,
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00:18:41,325 --> 00:18:44,301
Huygens measured the
concentration of methane.
244
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That concentration gradually rose
245
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the closer the probe got to the surface.
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00:18:51,779 --> 00:18:56,055
Then, the moment it landed,
there was a sharp increase.
247
00:18:58,514 --> 00:19:01,421
It is thought that this was
due to the heat from Huygens
248
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vaporizing the methane
that permeates the ice.
249
00:19:11,808 --> 00:19:14,753
On Titan, liquid methane acts in ways
250
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similar to water on Earth.
251
00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:26,939
In June 2012, for example,
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Cassini observed a strange phenomenon
253
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near Titan's south pole.
254
00:19:36,599 --> 00:19:39,472
An oddly-shaped mass seemed
to be squirming about
255
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in the atmosphere.
256
00:19:41,032 --> 00:19:43,260
It was a cloud swirling.
257
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A cloud made up of methane.
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00:19:56,936 --> 00:20:01,194
On Earth, water is recycled
as water vapor and rain.
259
00:20:01,195 --> 00:20:04,628
One of the factors prompting
this is seasonal change.
260
00:20:04,629 --> 00:20:08,866
On Titan, the same sort of
mechanism seems to be at work.
261
00:20:13,215 --> 00:20:15,188
Titan is tilted on its axis,
262
00:20:15,189 --> 00:20:17,790
some 26 degrees off vertical.
263
00:20:17,791 --> 00:20:20,745
The Earth has a 23.4 degree tilt.
264
00:20:20,746 --> 00:20:23,102
It's another point of similarity.
265
00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:27,966
Along with its parent planet,
Saturn, not shown here,
266
00:20:27,967 --> 00:20:31,933
Titan takes 30 Earth
years to orbit the Sun.
267
00:20:31,934 --> 00:20:35,588
The tilt of its axis gives
birth to different seasons.
268
00:20:36,558 --> 00:20:39,177
At this location, Titan's
northern hemisphere
269
00:20:39,178 --> 00:20:41,846
experiences the long days of summer.
270
00:20:46,847 --> 00:20:49,161
The northern hemisphere is warm,
271
00:20:49,162 --> 00:20:51,880
producing rising atmosphere currents.
272
00:20:51,881 --> 00:20:54,899
Liquid methane on Titan's
surface evaporates
273
00:20:54,900 --> 00:20:56,842
and is carried southward.
274
00:21:00,812 --> 00:21:03,368
Near the south pole, it is winter.
275
00:21:03,369 --> 00:21:05,473
The methane gases cool
276
00:21:05,474 --> 00:21:08,882
condensing into a liquid
or even solid state.
277
00:21:08,883 --> 00:21:10,455
It can form clouds
278
00:21:14,185 --> 00:21:17,772
like that huge swirling
cloud Cassini spotted.
279
00:21:23,819 --> 00:21:26,337
When it's winter in the
northern hemisphere,
280
00:21:26,338 --> 00:21:28,268
the cycle reverses.
281
00:21:28,269 --> 00:21:31,605
Now, the methane cloud
forms near the north pole.
282
00:21:36,785 --> 00:21:40,602
Underneath that cloud,
methane rain begins to fall.
283
00:21:41,562 --> 00:21:44,131
Since methane is more viscous than water,
284
00:21:44,132 --> 00:21:46,222
its raindrops are larger,
285
00:21:46,223 --> 00:21:49,135
with diameters of about a centimeter.
286
00:21:50,852 --> 00:21:53,912
But as Titan's gravity
is weaker than Earth's,
287
00:21:53,913 --> 00:21:56,122
the droplets fall more slowly,
288
00:21:56,123 --> 00:21:58,288
about one meter per second,
289
00:21:58,289 --> 00:22:00,839
like a soft snow on Earth.
290
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,923
They soak the icy ground
on Titan and form lakes.
291
00:22:10,204 --> 00:22:11,718
Wind blows.
292
00:22:11,719 --> 00:22:13,691
Rain falls.
293
00:22:13,692 --> 00:22:16,731
When people could finally
see Titan close-up,
294
00:22:16,732 --> 00:22:20,552
they were astonished at how
much it resembles Earth.
295
00:22:34,510 --> 00:22:36,088
In 2007,
296
00:22:36,089 --> 00:22:39,500
the Cassini orbiters spotted
something truly peculiar
297
00:22:39,501 --> 00:22:41,284
on Titan's surface.
298
00:22:44,696 --> 00:22:48,254
A land formation, some 70 kilometers across
299
00:22:48,255 --> 00:22:50,316
in the shape of a flower.
300
00:22:50,317 --> 00:22:52,281
What could it be?
301
00:22:52,282 --> 00:22:54,883
Perspective can be gained
by combining images
302
00:22:54,884 --> 00:22:57,748
taken from two different points of view.
303
00:23:02,713 --> 00:23:06,789
A three-dimensional image
of the topography emerges.
304
00:23:09,934 --> 00:23:13,698
That strange formation turns
out to be a rugged mountain,
305
00:23:13,699 --> 00:23:16,807
featuring a 1,500-meter high peak.
306
00:23:22,210 --> 00:23:24,078
There is also a chasm that looks
307
00:23:24,079 --> 00:23:26,536
like it might be a volcanic crater.
308
00:23:28,356 --> 00:23:32,581
From that, one can infer a
formally-active volcano.
309
00:23:40,377 --> 00:23:43,885
That volcano has been an
object of particular interest
310
00:23:43,886 --> 00:23:45,655
to Jonathan Lunine,
311
00:23:45,656 --> 00:23:48,862
an expert on Titan's internal structure.
312
00:23:48,863 --> 00:23:52,033
He says that the volcano did not spew lava.
313
00:23:52,034 --> 00:23:55,893
Rather, it pumped up a mixture
of ammonia and water.
314
00:23:57,570 --> 00:23:59,937
One thing to remember is that when water
315
00:23:59,938 --> 00:24:02,518
is mixed with ammonia, it can stay liquid
316
00:24:02,519 --> 00:24:04,770
down to very low temperatures.
317
00:24:04,771 --> 00:24:07,469
Down, in fact, to -100 Celsius.
318
00:24:07,470 --> 00:24:10,253
But at that point, within a
few degrees of that point,
319
00:24:10,254 --> 00:24:12,674
the liquid is actually very viscous.
320
00:24:12,675 --> 00:24:14,647
It's almost like basalt.
321
00:24:14,648 --> 00:24:17,036
So if that is what is
flowing out on the surface,
322
00:24:17,037 --> 00:24:19,158
we would see very thick flows.
323
00:24:20,689 --> 00:24:22,625
Lunine believes that under the ice
324
00:24:22,626 --> 00:24:25,498
beneath the volcano, there's an ocean.
325
00:24:25,499 --> 00:24:29,666
He came to this conclusion due
to changes in Titan's shape.
326
00:24:34,849 --> 00:24:37,834
Titan completes its elliptical
orbit around Saturn
327
00:24:37,835 --> 00:24:40,192
once every 16 days.
328
00:24:40,193 --> 00:24:43,744
During that time, it regularly
feels the changing effect
329
00:24:43,745 --> 00:24:45,504
of Saturn's gravity.
330
00:24:45,505 --> 00:24:48,898
In short, it experiences tidal forces.
331
00:24:50,630 --> 00:24:52,746
At its farthest point from Saturn,
332
00:24:52,747 --> 00:24:55,325
Titan is almost perfectly spherical.
333
00:24:57,854 --> 00:24:59,508
But at its closest point
334
00:24:59,509 --> 00:25:02,783
where Saturn's gravitational
pull is the strongest,
335
00:25:02,784 --> 00:25:04,509
Titan grows fatter.
336
00:25:09,164 --> 00:25:12,874
Its diameter alters by
as much as 10 meters.
337
00:25:12,875 --> 00:25:16,383
Lunine says that Titan can
transform so dramatically
338
00:25:16,384 --> 00:25:20,901
because internally, it is not
made entirely of solid rock.
339
00:25:22,379 --> 00:25:25,759
Lunine's observations suggest
the following picture
340
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:27,438
of Titan's structure.
341
00:25:30,389 --> 00:25:34,718
The outer crust of ice is some
50 to 100 kilometers thick.
342
00:25:34,719 --> 00:25:38,283
The center is comprised
of two types of bedrock.
343
00:25:40,031 --> 00:25:42,547
In between the ice and the rock, however,
344
00:25:42,548 --> 00:25:44,835
is a layer of liquid water.
345
00:25:44,836 --> 00:25:47,411
The bedrock generates heat, says Lunine,
346
00:25:47,412 --> 00:25:50,888
permitting the water to
remain in a liquid state.
347
00:25:50,889 --> 00:25:54,493
This ocean layer is some
300 kilometers deep.
348
00:25:54,494 --> 00:25:57,256
Ammonia, present in Titan since its origin,
349
00:25:57,257 --> 00:25:59,762
has also dissolved into the water.
350
00:25:59,763 --> 00:26:01,778
It is thanks to this ocean layer
351
00:26:01,779 --> 00:26:04,752
that Titan can change shape so flexibly.
352
00:26:07,006 --> 00:26:10,514
The interior's warm enough
that really only liquid water
353
00:26:10,515 --> 00:26:13,479
is a suitable, stable
material in that region,
354
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,156
so we're pretty sure from
the gravity experiment
355
00:26:16,157 --> 00:26:19,532
that Titan has a liquid water
layer under its surface.
356
00:26:22,610 --> 00:26:24,028
According to Lunine,
357
00:26:24,029 --> 00:26:26,737
the tidal forces caused by Saturn, in turn,
358
00:26:26,738 --> 00:26:29,066
stimulate volcanic activity.
359
00:26:32,594 --> 00:26:35,078
Tidal forces cause friction
along the boundary
360
00:26:35,079 --> 00:26:37,958
between ice and the subsurface ocean.
361
00:26:37,959 --> 00:26:41,989
The water heated in this way
melts some of the icy crust.
362
00:26:44,049 --> 00:26:46,853
It builds up by terretrial magma,
363
00:26:46,854 --> 00:26:50,685
and eventually forces its
way up above the surface.
364
00:26:55,608 --> 00:26:57,925
This ammonia-laden water flows out
365
00:26:57,926 --> 00:27:00,815
from Titan's volcanoes like lava.
366
00:27:00,816 --> 00:27:03,503
Lunine believes such volcanoes are proof
367
00:27:03,504 --> 00:27:05,586
of an underground ocean.
368
00:27:08,058 --> 00:27:10,425
Beneath Titan's icy shell,
369
00:27:10,426 --> 00:27:13,149
a whole new world lies hidden.
370
00:27:29,041 --> 00:27:31,792
Saturn has over 60 moons.
371
00:27:36,401 --> 00:27:40,828
Among them are Enceladus,
ice-covered like Titan.
372
00:27:42,662 --> 00:27:46,068
And Hyperion, pockmarked with craters.
373
00:27:47,653 --> 00:27:50,358
Mimas has this huge crater.
374
00:27:51,952 --> 00:27:54,969
Those are just a few of Saturn's moons,
375
00:27:54,970 --> 00:27:58,194
but they all have
practically no atmosphere.
376
00:27:59,869 --> 00:28:02,454
Only Titan boasts an
atmosphere that extends
377
00:28:02,455 --> 00:28:05,357
as far as 1,000 kilometers into space.
378
00:28:06,347 --> 00:28:08,757
Actual measurements reveal
that this atmosphere
379
00:28:08,758 --> 00:28:11,349
is 98% nitrogen.
380
00:28:11,350 --> 00:28:13,852
The rest is largely methane.
381
00:28:17,662 --> 00:28:20,352
Why is Titan the only one of Saturn's moons
382
00:28:20,353 --> 00:28:22,378
with a thick atmosphere?
383
00:28:22,379 --> 00:28:24,943
Solving that mystery through
experimentation on Earth
384
00:28:24,944 --> 00:28:28,725
has been a preoccupation
of Yasuhito Sekine.
385
00:28:30,189 --> 00:28:33,163
Sekine believes that Titan's
atmosphere was generated
386
00:28:33,164 --> 00:28:35,552
by an extraordinary mechanism.
387
00:28:39,756 --> 00:28:41,238
The mechanism?
388
00:28:41,239 --> 00:28:44,470
Collisions with small celestial objects.
389
00:28:44,471 --> 00:28:48,523
Sekine is trying to reproduce
that effect using a laser.
390
00:28:51,638 --> 00:28:53,525
When Titan was first formed,
391
00:28:53,526 --> 00:28:57,497
its icy land mass contained
about 1% ammonia.
392
00:28:59,862 --> 00:29:01,834
So inside a vacuum chamber,
393
00:29:01,835 --> 00:29:06,073
a disc of ammonia-water ice
stands in for the young Titan.
394
00:29:07,243 --> 00:29:10,114
The laser beam enters from
the left of your screen.
395
00:29:13,603 --> 00:29:15,351
It strikes a projectile,
396
00:29:15,352 --> 00:29:18,152
which then impacts the ammonia disc.
397
00:29:31,023 --> 00:29:32,948
That was the laser shot.
398
00:29:35,535 --> 00:29:38,681
Gases released by the impact are measured.
399
00:29:43,268 --> 00:29:44,931
One is nitrogen
400
00:29:44,932 --> 00:29:48,202
released by the disintegration
of the ammonia.
401
00:29:53,219 --> 00:29:57,466
Titan's thick atmosphere contains
large amounts of nitrogen.
402
00:30:01,604 --> 00:30:03,741
According to Sekine's calculations,
403
00:30:03,742 --> 00:30:05,577
based on his experiments,
404
00:30:05,578 --> 00:30:08,612
repeated impacts by small celestial objects
405
00:30:08,613 --> 00:30:11,911
could have produced just
such an atmosphere.
406
00:30:37,832 --> 00:30:39,725
For example, Enceladus,
407
00:30:39,726 --> 00:30:41,640
one of Saturn's other moons,
408
00:30:41,641 --> 00:30:44,498
is merely 500 kilometers across.
409
00:30:44,499 --> 00:30:47,655
That is one-tenth of Titan's diameter.
410
00:30:47,656 --> 00:30:50,429
Saturn's other satellites are also small,
411
00:30:50,430 --> 00:30:52,903
with weak gravitational fields.
412
00:30:52,904 --> 00:30:55,644
So even if they've been similarly impacted,
413
00:30:55,645 --> 00:30:59,060
they haven't been able to
hold on to any atmosphere.
414
00:31:01,544 --> 00:31:05,404
But did Titan, in fact,
experience repeated bombardment
415
00:31:05,405 --> 00:31:07,610
by small celestial objects?
416
00:31:12,463 --> 00:31:15,032
Hal Levison uses computers to calculate
417
00:31:15,033 --> 00:31:17,219
the history of the solar system.
418
00:31:17,220 --> 00:31:19,491
He has advancd the revolutionary theory
419
00:31:19,492 --> 00:31:21,603
that some four billion years ago,
420
00:31:21,604 --> 00:31:25,614
the entire solar system was
shaken by a massive event.
421
00:31:30,870 --> 00:31:33,954
Levison argues that when the
solar system was forming
422
00:31:33,955 --> 00:31:36,183
4.6 billion years ago,
423
00:31:36,184 --> 00:31:38,786
Uranus and Neptune were closer to the Sun
424
00:31:38,787 --> 00:31:40,381
than they are now.
425
00:31:45,708 --> 00:31:49,100
He inputs the location
and size of the planets
426
00:31:49,101 --> 00:31:51,416
and also of the small celestial objects
427
00:31:51,417 --> 00:31:53,079
that lie further out.
428
00:31:55,481 --> 00:31:57,947
Then the simulation begins.
429
00:31:57,948 --> 00:32:01,541
At first, the basic situation
did not change much.
430
00:32:02,461 --> 00:32:04,879
But some 600 million years later,
431
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,524
Uranus and Neptune were suddenly flown
432
00:32:07,525 --> 00:32:10,393
to the outer realms of the solar system.
433
00:32:12,848 --> 00:32:15,193
Du, du, du, du, then out.
434
00:32:15,194 --> 00:32:19,107
And that caused the giant
planets to slowly spread.
435
00:32:19,108 --> 00:32:21,881
It was infinitesimal, you
wouldn't have noticed it
436
00:32:21,882 --> 00:32:24,014
but the orbits were slowly changing.
437
00:32:24,015 --> 00:32:27,626
And that continued until Jupiter and Saturn
438
00:32:27,627 --> 00:32:30,766
got to the point where Jupiter
was going around the Sun
439
00:32:30,767 --> 00:32:35,675
exactly twice every time
Saturn went around once,
440
00:32:35,676 --> 00:32:37,970
and that configuration
441
00:32:37,971 --> 00:32:40,989
is what set the whole instability off.
442
00:32:40,990 --> 00:32:43,079
So you went, almost overnight,
443
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:46,631
from a time when there was
a little bit going on
444
00:32:46,632 --> 00:32:49,703
but not much, to this very violent period
445
00:32:49,704 --> 00:32:52,017
where all hell breaks loose.
446
00:32:53,437 --> 00:32:56,990
The smaller celestial objects
shown here in green,
447
00:32:56,991 --> 00:33:00,563
had formed a ring at the outer
edge of the solar system.
448
00:33:00,564 --> 00:33:04,029
But then the gravitational
force of Uranus and Neptune
449
00:33:04,030 --> 00:33:06,637
violently scattered these objects.
450
00:33:11,750 --> 00:33:14,503
The result was that in the
period from four billion
451
00:33:14,504 --> 00:33:17,084
to 3.9 billion years ago,
452
00:33:17,085 --> 00:33:19,378
the planets of the solar system encountered
453
00:33:19,379 --> 00:33:22,481
a barrage of small celestial objects.
454
00:33:25,533 --> 00:33:29,254
During this period, Titan
also was hit repeatedly,
455
00:33:29,255 --> 00:33:32,092
developing a nitrogen-rich atmosphere.
456
00:33:32,093 --> 00:33:35,014
That made it a very special moon.
457
00:34:22,641 --> 00:34:26,453
1977 saw the lauch of Voyager one.
458
00:34:26,454 --> 00:34:27,673
Its mission.
459
00:34:27,674 --> 00:34:30,650
To explore and observe the outer planets
460
00:34:30,651 --> 00:34:32,651
from Jupiter to Neptune.
461
00:34:39,367 --> 00:34:41,709
This was its view of Titan.
462
00:34:44,353 --> 00:34:46,176
It was a close look,
463
00:34:46,177 --> 00:34:50,837
but still, the moon was shrouded
in a thick orange haze.
464
00:34:50,838 --> 00:34:52,587
However, even then,
465
00:34:52,588 --> 00:34:54,976
one scientist maintained that the haze
466
00:34:54,977 --> 00:34:58,557
held the secret to sparking life below.
467
00:35:05,524 --> 00:35:07,916
Bishun Khare has been trying to penetrate
468
00:35:07,917 --> 00:35:12,028
the mystery of Titan's haze
since the early 1970s.
469
00:35:12,029 --> 00:35:14,785
He participated in the Voyager mission.
470
00:35:14,786 --> 00:35:17,547
He is focused on the haze as being itself,
471
00:35:17,548 --> 00:35:19,195
a source of life.
472
00:35:20,268 --> 00:35:24,704
Khare introduces a nitrogen-methane
mix into a sealed flask
473
00:35:24,705 --> 00:35:27,345
to simulate Titan's atmosphere.
474
00:35:29,419 --> 00:35:31,808
The flask is fitted with electrodes.
475
00:35:31,809 --> 00:35:34,281
Now Khare discharges them.
476
00:35:35,616 --> 00:35:38,282
This is meant to reproduce
the effect of lightning
477
00:35:38,283 --> 00:35:42,067
or other energy surges
on Titan's atmosphere.
478
00:35:44,235 --> 00:35:47,903
It's about 10 hours since the
start of the experiment.
479
00:35:47,904 --> 00:35:50,473
A reddish-brown substance
has become visible
480
00:35:50,474 --> 00:35:52,179
inside the flask.
481
00:35:54,421 --> 00:35:57,733
Khare claims that this is
the very same substance
482
00:35:57,734 --> 00:36:00,440
as the haze enveloping Titan.
483
00:36:04,298 --> 00:36:07,728
So what happened inside that glass vessel?
484
00:36:11,457 --> 00:36:14,232
First off, the electrical
surges split apart
485
00:36:14,233 --> 00:36:17,745
the molecules of nitrogen and the methane.
486
00:36:17,746 --> 00:36:19,969
Their atoms recombine with carbon
487
00:36:19,970 --> 00:36:22,754
and other atoms in all sorts of ways
488
00:36:22,755 --> 00:36:26,053
forming a variety of new organic compounds.
489
00:36:28,977 --> 00:36:32,944
Analysis showed that some 200
types of organic compounds
490
00:36:32,945 --> 00:36:35,825
had been created in this experiment.
491
00:36:38,097 --> 00:36:39,930
Organic compounds are the materials
492
00:36:39,931 --> 00:36:42,554
out of which our own bodies are made.
493
00:36:42,555 --> 00:36:45,353
They are the building blocks of life.
494
00:36:47,692 --> 00:36:50,432
It was thanks to Khare's
work that Titan came
495
00:36:50,433 --> 00:36:52,800
to be considered one of
the celestial objects
496
00:36:52,801 --> 00:36:55,287
on which life might exist.
497
00:37:04,443 --> 00:37:07,615
The Cassini orbiter's close-up
observations of Titan
498
00:37:07,616 --> 00:37:11,395
have come some 30 years
after Khare's experiments.
499
00:37:11,396 --> 00:37:14,281
Will they confirm that
Titan's hazy atmosphere
500
00:37:14,282 --> 00:37:17,195
has in fact given rise to organics?
501
00:37:19,786 --> 00:37:24,323
The INMS is a device that
measures molecular mass.
502
00:37:24,324 --> 00:37:27,049
Cassini has used it to
determine the composition
503
00:37:27,050 --> 00:37:28,927
of Titan's atmosphere.
504
00:37:36,876 --> 00:37:39,592
Cassini's data were streamed back to Earth,
505
00:37:39,593 --> 00:37:43,565
where they were analyzed by
Hunter Waite and his colleagues.
506
00:37:46,598 --> 00:37:50,203
Waite led the team that designed
the INMS instrument package
507
00:37:50,204 --> 00:37:52,258
carried aboard Cassini.
508
00:37:55,496 --> 00:37:59,707
Waite's lab was able to reproduce
and confirm Cassini's data
509
00:37:59,708 --> 00:38:03,282
by utilizing the same INMS system.
510
00:38:03,283 --> 00:38:05,901
They could then analyze
accurately whatever molecules
511
00:38:05,902 --> 00:38:09,437
or compounds the instrument had detected.
512
00:38:13,918 --> 00:38:16,482
The results were astonishing.
513
00:38:18,012 --> 00:38:20,075
Rendered in the form of a chart,
514
00:38:20,076 --> 00:38:23,190
each of the different molecules
identified by Cassini
515
00:38:23,191 --> 00:38:26,184
is represented by its own colored area.
516
00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:30,667
Various organic substances were created
517
00:38:30,668 --> 00:38:32,480
in Titans' atmostphere,
518
00:38:32,481 --> 00:38:35,146
ranging from ones with a single carbon atom
519
00:38:35,147 --> 00:38:39,530
to more complex ones with
six or seven carbon atoms.
520
00:38:40,726 --> 00:38:42,511
When Cassini sent back data,
521
00:38:42,512 --> 00:38:44,462
we found out that the upper atmosphere
522
00:38:44,463 --> 00:38:46,762
was much more relevant
than we ever thought,
523
00:38:46,763 --> 00:38:50,314
that most of the chemistry
seemed to be going on
524
00:38:50,315 --> 00:38:51,926
in the upper atmosphere,
525
00:38:51,927 --> 00:38:55,617
that very large molecules
were being created
526
00:38:55,618 --> 00:38:58,849
in the upper atmosphere way
beyond our expectations.
527
00:38:58,850 --> 00:39:02,423
Titan is one of the best
528
00:39:02,424 --> 00:39:04,974
organic factories in the solar system.
529
00:39:06,808 --> 00:39:10,038
Bathed in ultraviolet and cosmic rays,
530
00:39:10,039 --> 00:39:13,409
Titan's upper atmosphere
is continually engaged
531
00:39:13,410 --> 00:39:15,820
in converting nitrogen and methane
532
00:39:15,821 --> 00:39:19,480
into a rich array of organic compounds.
533
00:39:24,971 --> 00:39:28,288
As these compounds collect
in the lower atmosphere,
534
00:39:28,289 --> 00:39:31,660
they produce Titan's famous orange haze.
535
00:39:34,913 --> 00:39:38,805
Finally, they are precipitated
with methane rain
536
00:39:38,806 --> 00:39:41,080
onto the surface as well.
537
00:39:45,813 --> 00:39:47,808
It's been four billion years
538
00:39:47,809 --> 00:39:50,784
since Titan's atmosphere was formed.
539
00:39:50,785 --> 00:39:52,736
During that time, it is estimated
540
00:39:52,737 --> 00:39:55,061
the organic settling onto the surface
541
00:39:55,062 --> 00:39:58,565
have created a layer
dozens of meters thick.
542
00:40:02,334 --> 00:40:05,183
The dunes discovered near Titan's equator
543
00:40:05,184 --> 00:40:09,116
are thought to be a large
deposit of these organics.
544
00:40:11,271 --> 00:40:14,150
Now on Titan, the sand is made,
545
00:40:14,151 --> 00:40:16,667
we think, from organic material.
546
00:40:16,668 --> 00:40:18,917
And we think that material comes down
547
00:40:18,918 --> 00:40:22,949
and gets built up into sand-size particles
548
00:40:22,950 --> 00:40:25,434
that are then accumulated by the wind
549
00:40:25,435 --> 00:40:27,545
to form dunes much like these.
550
00:40:31,682 --> 00:40:33,797
Amidst this accumulation of organics
551
00:40:33,798 --> 00:40:35,473
on Titan's surface,
552
00:40:35,474 --> 00:40:39,987
are substances of vital importance
to the emergence of life.
553
00:40:44,292 --> 00:40:46,894
That finding was made by a young researcher
554
00:40:46,895 --> 00:40:51,205
with a specialty in organic
chemistry, Sarah Hörst.
555
00:40:54,510 --> 00:40:57,016
Hörst has undertaken a minute examination
556
00:40:57,017 --> 00:41:00,907
of the organic compounds
discovered in Titan's atmosphere.
557
00:41:04,293 --> 00:41:07,785
She's written her own
computer program to do that.
558
00:41:13,670 --> 00:41:16,175
Based on Cassini's observational data,
559
00:41:16,176 --> 00:41:18,184
she faithfully simulates the composition
560
00:41:18,185 --> 00:41:22,541
of Titan's atmosphere and
produces the same organics.
561
00:41:28,462 --> 00:41:30,834
Next, she uses her computer program
562
00:41:30,835 --> 00:41:34,897
to determine the molecular
structure of every compound.
563
00:41:38,476 --> 00:41:41,211
These peaks right here are
the masses of the ions
564
00:41:41,212 --> 00:41:43,814
in the mass spectrum data,
565
00:41:43,815 --> 00:41:46,577
and then it's the number
of carbon, nitrogen,
566
00:41:46,578 --> 00:41:49,276
oxygen, and hydrogen in
each of those peaks.
567
00:41:49,277 --> 00:41:51,547
So then what the code
does is it goes through
568
00:41:51,548 --> 00:41:54,470
and compares this information
to a list that I've given it
569
00:41:54,471 --> 00:41:57,168
of all of the amino acids and nucleobases
570
00:41:57,169 --> 00:41:58,726
that we're looking at.
571
00:41:58,727 --> 00:42:03,111
Here, we have 136, we have the
molecular formula of adenine
572
00:42:03,112 --> 00:42:05,223
which is five carbons that matches,
573
00:42:05,224 --> 00:42:07,500
it has five nitrogens that matches,
574
00:42:07,501 --> 00:42:10,221
no oxygen, and then five hydrogens.
575
00:42:10,222 --> 00:42:12,589
So we know from this that we
have the molecular formula
576
00:42:12,590 --> 00:42:14,520
of adenine in this sample.
577
00:42:17,261 --> 00:42:19,937
Genetic information for all life on Earth
578
00:42:19,938 --> 00:42:22,305
is encoded in DNA.
579
00:42:22,306 --> 00:42:25,131
Adenine is one of its four major components
580
00:42:25,132 --> 00:42:27,104
or nucleobases.
581
00:42:27,105 --> 00:42:31,215
And all four had been produced
in Hörst's experiments.
582
00:42:32,214 --> 00:42:34,426
If these nucleobases combine
583
00:42:34,427 --> 00:42:37,043
in such a way that they create DNA,
584
00:42:37,044 --> 00:42:39,646
then a huge step forward
will have been taken
585
00:42:39,647 --> 00:42:41,703
towards life itself.
586
00:42:42,861 --> 00:42:45,855
With this discovery,
speculation mounted that Titan
587
00:42:45,856 --> 00:42:49,403
might actually be capable
of harboring life.
588
00:42:52,245 --> 00:42:54,079
Life on Titan?
589
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,980
It may, in fact, already exist.
590
00:42:56,981 --> 00:43:00,116
If it does, what
would it look like?
591
00:43:00,117 --> 00:43:02,723
The search is on for the answer.
592
00:43:12,161 --> 00:43:15,210
Trinidad and Tobago form an island country
593
00:43:15,211 --> 00:43:17,010
in the Southern Caribbean.
594
00:43:17,900 --> 00:43:21,470
They have a population
of about 1.3 million.
595
00:43:31,281 --> 00:43:35,112
They also have one of the most
unusual lakes in the world.
596
00:43:35,113 --> 00:43:37,233
It's called Pitch Lake.
597
00:43:39,261 --> 00:43:41,124
It contains not water,
598
00:43:41,125 --> 00:43:43,648
but naturally-occurring asphalt.
599
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:53,273
It bubbles up from an oil
field that lies underneath,
600
00:43:53,274 --> 00:43:57,315
creating a lake of asphalt
that's 40 hectares in area
601
00:43:57,316 --> 00:43:59,365
and 80 meters deep.
602
00:44:05,252 --> 00:44:06,808
Strangely enough,
603
00:44:06,809 --> 00:44:09,336
Pitch Lake is the side
of fieldwork being done
604
00:44:09,337 --> 00:44:12,895
by astrobiologist, Dirk Schulze-Makuch.
605
00:44:12,896 --> 00:44:15,191
He thinks that Titan is the best candidate
606
00:44:15,192 --> 00:44:18,330
for the location of extraterrestrial life.
607
00:44:19,651 --> 00:44:21,644
He's come here to try to envision
608
00:44:21,645 --> 00:44:24,729
what lifeforms on Titan might be like.
609
00:44:30,096 --> 00:44:31,788
Asphalt, like methane,
610
00:44:31,789 --> 00:44:36,323
is a hydrocarbon comprised
entirely of carbon and hydrogen.
611
00:44:38,498 --> 00:44:42,027
You wouldn't think this was a
substance that harbors life.
612
00:44:42,028 --> 00:44:44,491
But Schulze-Makuch says it actually does
613
00:44:44,492 --> 00:44:46,816
contain microorganisms.
614
00:44:52,605 --> 00:44:55,601
This is one of the few environments
615
00:44:55,602 --> 00:44:59,430
where it's similar to Saturn's moon, Titan,
616
00:44:59,431 --> 00:45:02,881
where we know that we have
hydrocarbon lakes on the surface.
617
00:45:02,882 --> 00:45:05,195
Obviously, Titan is very cold,
618
00:45:05,196 --> 00:45:08,108
so it's still different from over here.
619
00:45:08,109 --> 00:45:11,041
But we do have the liquid
methane and ethane
620
00:45:11,042 --> 00:45:13,270
which are also hydrocarbons.
621
00:45:13,271 --> 00:45:17,163
And if we can find out
what kind of organisms
622
00:45:17,164 --> 00:45:18,955
are living here in the asphalt lake
623
00:45:18,956 --> 00:45:21,814
and how they adapt to
living in the hydrocarbons,
624
00:45:21,815 --> 00:45:24,779
we think we can get some ideas to how life
625
00:45:24,780 --> 00:45:27,766
could operate on a moon like Titan.
626
00:45:29,633 --> 00:45:32,945
Asphalt contains almost no water.
627
00:45:34,629 --> 00:45:37,461
Did you say that there's microbes in there?
628
00:45:37,462 --> 00:45:40,603
Yes, there's microbial organisms
in the liquid asphalt.
629
00:45:40,604 --> 00:45:41,589
In this thing?
630
00:45:41,590 --> 00:45:43,063
In this thing, yeah.
631
00:45:43,064 --> 00:45:45,036
Like maybe one, two?
632
00:45:45,037 --> 00:45:46,433
Millions.
633
00:45:46,434 --> 00:45:47,710
Millions?
Yeah.
634
00:45:50,755 --> 00:45:54,466
Genetic analysis identified
some 600 new types
635
00:45:54,467 --> 00:45:58,050
of microorganisms living in the asphalt.
636
00:45:58,051 --> 00:46:00,162
Most are archaebacteria
637
00:46:00,163 --> 00:46:02,690
related to the primordial microorganisms
638
00:46:02,691 --> 00:46:05,553
that live in extreme environments.
639
00:46:07,565 --> 00:46:10,284
So for them, actually,
it's a great environment,
640
00:46:10,285 --> 00:46:12,236
it's a great food source,
641
00:46:12,237 --> 00:46:14,838
and basically, a
never-running-out food source
642
00:46:14,839 --> 00:46:18,198
because it's getting supply
from deep down there.
643
00:46:19,895 --> 00:46:22,219
On Earth, there are microorganisms
644
00:46:22,220 --> 00:46:26,301
that can use asphalt for
sustenance instead of water.
645
00:46:28,097 --> 00:46:31,158
Schulze-Makuch is convinced
that in Titan's lakes,
646
00:46:31,159 --> 00:46:33,920
there must be lifeforms
that exploit methane
647
00:46:33,921 --> 00:46:35,634
in a similar way.
648
00:46:43,631 --> 00:46:46,094
Another scientist, Chris McKay,
649
00:46:46,095 --> 00:46:48,323
holds that the methane lakes on Titan
650
00:46:48,324 --> 00:46:51,326
contain creatures so unlike Earth creatures
651
00:46:51,327 --> 00:46:54,811
that they exceed our wildest imaginations.
652
00:46:57,505 --> 00:47:00,074
Think of fish living in water
653
00:47:00,075 --> 00:47:04,080
and ask them to imagine a
bird which lives in air.
654
00:47:04,081 --> 00:47:06,268
They probably can't conceive of an organism
655
00:47:06,269 --> 00:47:10,826
that is so much denser than
the medium in which it lives.
656
00:47:10,827 --> 00:47:13,311
Fish move through water by floating,
657
00:47:13,312 --> 00:47:16,660
so they would imagine a
bird must float in the air.
658
00:47:19,999 --> 00:47:23,486
We humans live in an
environment called Earth.
659
00:47:23,487 --> 00:47:25,971
We produce energy by causing oxygen
660
00:47:25,972 --> 00:47:28,937
and organic matter to interact.
661
00:47:28,938 --> 00:47:31,098
That is our lifestyle.
662
00:47:33,791 --> 00:47:36,744
But McKay is arguing that on Titan,
663
00:47:36,745 --> 00:47:40,339
lifeforms would be based
on a Titan lifestyle
664
00:47:40,340 --> 00:47:43,595
that makes use of what's
available on Titan.
665
00:47:47,070 --> 00:47:49,671
Titan's atmosphere
contains minuscule amounts
666
00:47:49,672 --> 00:47:52,178
of hydrogen and acetylene.
667
00:47:52,179 --> 00:47:55,015
McKay thinks that there
may be lifeforms on Titan
668
00:47:55,016 --> 00:47:58,268
that exist by deriving
energy from the interaction
669
00:47:58,269 --> 00:48:02,231
of those two substances
in a methane environment.
670
00:48:03,784 --> 00:48:08,439
McKay says that life could very
well already exist on Titan.
671
00:48:14,641 --> 00:48:17,338
So instead of being small and round,
672
00:48:17,339 --> 00:48:20,389
I would guess that a
single-celled organism on Titan
673
00:48:20,390 --> 00:48:23,887
might be big and flat like a sheet of paper
674
00:48:23,888 --> 00:48:27,163
to maximize its contact with the nutrients
675
00:48:27,164 --> 00:48:28,879
in this thin soup.
676
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:31,461
It's living in an environment
where there's not a lot
677
00:48:31,462 --> 00:48:35,861
of food, so it's gotta access
the food with big area
678
00:48:35,862 --> 00:48:39,494
and maybe on this area,
it has active molecules.
679
00:48:39,495 --> 00:48:41,628
So it's like a big flat sheet of paper
680
00:48:41,629 --> 00:48:45,158
with little traps on it to collect food.
681
00:48:45,159 --> 00:48:47,089
To that lifeform,
682
00:48:47,090 --> 00:48:49,488
that will be the normal environment.
683
00:48:51,180 --> 00:48:53,686
It was not until the 21st century
684
00:48:53,687 --> 00:48:56,824
that Titan's thick veil was lifted.
685
00:48:56,825 --> 00:48:59,048
Now that we're getting a closer look,
686
00:48:59,049 --> 00:49:01,439
what new discoveries await?
687
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:04,671
So Titan gives us a whole
new set of possibilities
688
00:49:04,672 --> 00:49:07,178
and there are, for sure, perhaps hundreds,
689
00:49:07,179 --> 00:49:12,023
maybe millions of worlds like
Titan around other stars.
690
00:49:12,024 --> 00:49:13,300
Do those have life?
691
00:49:13,301 --> 00:49:15,607
Titan maybe can give us some clues.
692
00:49:17,194 --> 00:49:19,230
If life is found on Titan,
693
00:49:19,231 --> 00:49:23,078
humanity's view of the
universe will surely change.
694
00:49:24,340 --> 00:49:26,566
The best place for me, in terms of finding
695
00:49:26,567 --> 00:49:28,558
another type of life, would be Titan.
696
00:49:28,559 --> 00:49:30,291
Because if we find it on Titan,
697
00:49:30,292 --> 00:49:32,446
then we know that it really is two.
698
00:49:32,447 --> 00:49:34,184
It's not the same as us.
699
00:49:34,185 --> 00:49:37,544
When we go to Mars, we
may find life on Mars
700
00:49:37,545 --> 00:49:41,138
but we won't be sure that it's
not the same life as Earth.
701
00:49:41,139 --> 00:49:45,106
So my best hope would be
we find life on Titan
702
00:49:45,107 --> 00:49:47,088
'cause then I know that we found
703
00:49:47,089 --> 00:49:49,639
two completely different types of life.
704
00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:51,896
Then I can go on to some
other science problem.
705
00:49:54,989 --> 00:49:57,078
There is only one body in space
706
00:49:57,079 --> 00:49:59,542
that we know of other than Earth,
707
00:49:59,543 --> 00:50:03,075
that has a thick atmosphere and lakes.
708
00:50:03,076 --> 00:50:04,148
Titan.
709
00:50:05,123 --> 00:50:07,202
If life is found on Titan,
710
00:50:07,203 --> 00:50:09,965
it will instantly increase the possibility
711
00:50:09,966 --> 00:50:12,845
that life exists in many other places
712
00:50:12,846 --> 00:50:15,163
in the universe as well.
713
00:50:22,654 --> 00:50:25,918
We may not be alone in the universe.
714
00:50:26,968 --> 00:50:29,553
We may have many comrades.
715
00:50:32,119 --> 00:50:35,350
The quest to find out for sure continues.
716
00:50:35,351 --> 00:50:37,921
Clues to solving that great mystery
717
00:50:37,922 --> 00:50:40,716
lie hidden on Titan.
56251
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