Beyond Earth

Our Path to a New Home in the Planets

• Charles Wohlforth and Amanda R. Hendrix, PhD
• 2016 Beaverton Library 629.455 WOH

• Charles Wohlforth is an Alaskan reporter and travel book author
• Dr. Hendrix analyzes UV instrument data on Galileo and Cassini

A permanent colony on Titan as a refuge from the destruction of the Earth. Silly, poorly thought out, too much magic thinking

• Use nuclear reactors to split water to make oxygen to burn methane
• Massive colonization fleet paid for by "the rich" so they can escape
• Magic "Q Drive" "gathers up quantum particles and expels them"

  • Harold White "Sonny" works for Mark McDonald's Advanced Mission Development Group at Johnson Space Center

• no notes or references

Titan: 1.2M km semimajor axis, 16 day period, orbital speed 5.6 km/s, tide locked to Saturn

• 2.64 km/s escape, 94K, density 1.88 g/cm³, 1.35 m/s² gravity
• Atmosphere: Stratosphere 98% nitrogen, 1.4% methane, Trpposphere 95% nitrogen, 5% methane
• Huygens lander 2005
  • Surface 1000 times dimmer than earth
  • Wikipedia: Atmosphere holds 10 meters of methane, "Titan's weather is expected to feature torrential downpours causing flash floods, interspersed by decades or centuries of drought"

Saturn: 9.5 AU, 29.5 yr