Synopses & Reviews
"A great book for anyone wanting to know what it's like to be on the front lines of a mission to perhaps the most fascinating planetary body in the solar system. Lorenz and Mitton bring home the fact that planetary exploration is not a faceless enterprise done by anonymous men in white coats, but a personal adventure carried along by real people with real charisma, real quirks, and real lives."--Mike Brown, California Institute of Technology
"This book could hardly be more timely. Titan is inarguably one of the most intriguing objects in the solar system, and the wealth of new information revealed by the successful Cassini-Huygens mission is revolutionizing our knowledge of this mysterious moon. Lorenz and Mitton are well qualified for the project, and have written a very compelling book."--Edwin L. Turner, Princeton University
"This is the first trade book that looks at the mission results in a comprehensive way. It gives a summary of our knowledge of Titan prior to the probe, describes the history of the probe project, and discusses the results from the mission. I am not aware of any books like this one."--Christopher P. McKay, NASA Ames Research Center
"Titan Unveiled is an authentic and lively insider's account of one of the grand enterprises in modern space exploration. The authors present a compelling human story of interplanetary exploration, rich in detail and strong on science. Readers get an authoritative description of many of the latest results from Cassini."--Richard G. French, Wellesley College and Cassini Radio Science Team
Review
If you thought a virtual world like Second Life was a smorgasbord of experimental gender swaps, nerd types engaging in kinky sex or entrepreneurs cashing in on real world money making possibilities, think again. . . .Could Boellstorff be right that were all virtual humans anyway, viewing the world as we do through the prism of culture?
Review
[A]n engrossing firsthand account of one of humankind's greatest adventures of recent years.
Review
A great book for anyone wanting to know what it's like to be on the front lines of a mission to perhaps the most fascinating planetary body in the solar system. Lorenz and Mitton bring home the fact that planetary exploration is not a faceless enterprise done by anonymous men in white coats, but a personal adventure carried along by real people with real charisma, real quirks, and real lives.
Review
"Illustrated with many stunning images,
Titan Unveiled is essential reading for anyone interested in space exploration, planetary science, or astronomy."
--Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin
Review
"
Titan Unveiled is a great read. It also may well prepare the reader for more adventures to Titan in the future."
--Coalition for Space Exploration
Review
"
Titan Unveiled unveils not only this remarkable moon but also the way that science is done, at least with large scale planetary science. High-school and college students would benefit from following the twists and turns, and the evolving thought, of the scientists involved. And the general reader will enjoy seeing scientific progress revealed as well as the coverage of excellent and interesting results."
--Jay Pasachoff, Key Reporter
Review
Titan Unveiled describes how most of what we once hypothesized about Titan has been proved wrong. The story of how we gained our current knowledge is fascinating; even more intriguing is what remains to be learned. -- Henry Roe, Nature Ralph Lorenz . . . has teamed with veteran science journalist Jaqueline Mitton to convey both the human and scientific drama of remote robotic space exploration. -- Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History Lorenz, a planetary scientist, and Mitton, a science writer, vividly describe this encounter with an alien landscape; excerpts from Lorenz's log convey what it was like to be involved with the mission. -- Scientific American [A]n engrossing firsthand account of one of humankind's greatest adventures of recent years. It will take decades to prepare a new mission and then an additional seven years for another spacecraft to reach titan. In the meantime, Titan Unveiled provides the general reader with a lively narrative that combines a reliable, nontechnical account of the Cassini-Huygens mission with personal and often intimate insights into these efforts to explore a fascinating planetary analogue to the Earth. -- Fred Taylor, American Scientist [A]n enjoyable mix: a very accessible summary of current knowledge about Titan is combined with a firsthand account that gives a flavour of what it has been like to be part of this grand, bold, international collaboration that is the Cassini-Huygens project. -- Times Higher Education Titan's allure seems only to increase the more scientists learn about it...Obscured by haze, the landscape has been exposed by radar, special optical cameras, and the Huygens lander. The authors cover in detail the information gathered by these and other instruments, which impart a practical sense of how scientists work from raw data toward finished interpretations...Including amazing photographs of Titan's evident geological dynamism, Lorenz and Mitton's work has a high 'wow' factor that will thrill buffs and may spur students toward a planetary science career. -- Gilbert Taylor, Booklist An insider's look behind the headlines, focusing on the thought processes and instrumentation tricks involved. Lorenz's bloglike entries liven up the prose, but the star is Titan. -- Richard Lovett, New Scientist This fantastic book shines a light on the truth of the matter: that science is about a sense of wonder, awe, the joy of finding stuff. -- Nature Geoscience Lorenz, the author of this popular account of Titan, is intimately involved in the Cassini-Huygens mission as a planetary scientist, and he contributes personal anecdotes as well as a thorough treatment of the science and technology of missions to Saturn and its moons. -- M. Dickinson, Choice A fascinating read. -- David Tytell, Sky & Telescope Titan Unveiled is highly recommended to the intellectually curious general public, as well as to the most seasoned planetary scientists and engineers. In fact, anyone with an interest in science, astronomy, planetary science and exploration, engineering or the evolution of our own planet will find this book captivating and uplifting. Landing on Titan has been one of the greatest adventures of the current decade . . . -- Agustin Chicarro, Physics World [W]hile expert readers in the science and engineering community will find much of interest here, it is the book's less technical target audience that will benefit the most. Apart from unveiling the mysteries of an alien world, it opens a window on the mostly hidden world of the planetary scientist, which is equally fascinating. -- Mark Williamson, Space Times Illustrated with many stunning images, Titan Unveiled is essential reading for anyone interested in space exploration, planetary science, or astronomy. -- Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin Titan Unveiled is a great read. It also may well prepare the reader for more adventures to Titan in the future. -- Coalition for Space Exploration Titan Unveiled unveils not only this remarkable moon but also the way that science is done, at least with large scale planetary science. High-school and college students would benefit from following the twists and turns, and the evolving thought, of the scientists involved. And the general reader will enjoy seeing scientific progress revealed as well as the coverage of excellent and interesting results. -- Jay Pasachoff, Key Reporter
Review
"
Titan Unveiled describes how most of what we once hypothesized about Titan has been proved wrong. The story of how we gained our current knowledge is fascinating; even more intriguing is what remains to be learned."
--Henry Roe, Nature
Review
"Ralph Lorenz . . . has teamed with veteran science journalist Jaqueline Mitton to convey both the human and scientific drama of remote robotic space exploration."
--Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History
Review
"Lorenz, a planetary scientist, and Mitton, a science writer, vividly describe this encounter with an alien landscape; excerpts from Lorenz's log convey what it was like to be involved with the mission."
--Scientific American
Review
"[A]n engrossing firsthand account of one of humankind's greatest adventures of recent years. It will take decades to prepare a new mission and then an additional seven years for another spacecraft to reach titan. In the meantime,
Titan Unveiled provides the general reader with a lively narrative that combines a reliable, nontechnical account of the Cassini-Huygens mission with personal and often intimate insights into these efforts to explore a fascinating planetary analogue to the Earth."
--Fred Taylor, American Scientist
Review
"[A]n enjoyable mix: a very accessible summary of current knowledge about Titan is combined with a firsthand account that gives a flavour of what it has been like to be part of this grand, bold, international collaboration that is the Cassini-Huygens project."
--Times Higher Education
Review
"Titan's allure seems only to increase the more scientists learn about it...Obscured by haze, the landscape has been exposed by radar, special optical cameras, and the Huygens lander. The authors cover in detail the information gathered by these and other instruments, which impart a practical sense of how scientists work from raw data toward finished interpretations...Including amazing photographs of Titan's evident geological dynamism, Lorenz and Mitton's work has a high 'wow' factor that will thrill buffs and may spur students toward a planetary science career."
--Gilbert Taylor, Booklist
Review
"An insider's look behind the headlines, focusing on the thought processes and instrumentation tricks involved. Lorenz's bloglike entries liven up the prose, but the star is Titan."
--Richard Lovett, New Scientist
Review
"This fantastic book shines a light on the truth of the matter: that science is about a sense of wonder, awe, the joy of finding stuff."
--Nature Geoscience
Review
"Lorenz, the author of this popular account of Titan, is intimately involved in the Cassini-Huygens mission as a planetary scientist, and he contributes personal anecdotes as well as a thorough treatment of the science and technology of missions to Saturn and its moons."
--M. Dickinson, Choice
Review
"A fascinating read."--David Tytell, Sky & Telescope
Review
"
Titan Unveiled is highly recommended to the intellectually curious general public, as well as to the most seasoned planetary scientists and engineers. In fact, anyone with an interest in science, astronomy, planetary science and exploration, engineering or the evolution of our own planet will find this book captivating and uplifting. Landing on Titan has been one of the greatest adventures of the current decade."
--Agustin Chicarro, Physics World
Review
"[W]hile expert readers in the science and engineering community will find much of interest here, it is the book's less technical target audience that will benefit the most. Apart from unveiling the mysteries of an alien world, it opens a window on the mostly hidden world of the planetary scientist, which is equally fascinating."
--Mark Williamson, Space Times
Review
"A fascinating read."
--David Tytell, Sky and Telescope
Synopsis
In the early 1980s, when the two Voyager spacecraft skimmed past Titan, Saturn's largest moon, they transmitted back enticing images of a mysterious world concealed in a seemingly impenetrable orange haze.
Titan Unveiled is one of the first general interest books to reveal the startling new discoveries that have been made since the arrival of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan.
Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton take readers behind the scenes of this mission. Launched in 1997, Cassini entered orbit around Saturn in summer 2004. Its formidable payload included the Huygens probe, which successfully parachuted down through Titan's atmosphere in early 2005, all the while transmitting images and data; and scientists were startled by what they saw. One of those researchers was Lorenz, who gives an insider's account of the scientific community's first close encounter with an alien landscape of liquid methane seas and turbulent orange skies. Amid the challenges and frayed nerves, new discoveries are made, including methane monsoons, equatorial sand seas, and Titan's polar hood. Lorenz and Mitton describe Titan as a world strikingly like Earth and tell how Titan may hold clues to the origins of life on our own planet and possibly to its presence on others.
Generously illustrated with many stunning images, Titan Unveiled is essential reading for anyone interested in space exploration, planetary science, or astronomy.
About the Author
Ralph Lorenz is a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Jacqueline Mitton is a writer, editor, and media consultant in astronomy. They are the coauthors of "Lifting Titan's Veil: Exploring the Giant Moon of Saturn".
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations and Tables vii
Preface xi
Chapter 1: The Lure of Titan 1
Chapter 2: Waiting for Cassini 21
Chapter 3: Cassini Arrives 67
Chapter 4: Cassini's First Taste of Titan 101
Chapter 5: Landing on Titan 132
Chapter 6: The Mission Goes On 174
Chapter 7: Where We Are and Where We Are Going 211
Appendix: Summary of Dynamical and Physical Data 233
Further Reading 235
Index 239