Description
For twenty-five years following the Voyager mission, scientists speculated about Saturn's largest moon, a mysterious orb clouded in orange haze. Finally, in 2005, the Cassini-Huygens probe successfully parachuted down through Titan's atmosphere, all the while transmitting images and data. 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. A new afterword brings readers up to date on Cassini's ongoing exploration of Titan, describing the many new discoveries made since 2006.
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
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".
Reviews
"[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 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 "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 "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 "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 "Lorenz provides an intimate account of this unique adventure... 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."--Agustin Chicarro, Physics World "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 "[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 "A fascinating read."--David Tytell, Sky & Telescope "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 "Lorenz was one of the researchers on the Cassini-Huygens mission which first successfully explored beyond the hazy atmosphere (and arguably, most intriguing) moon. In Titan Unveiled, he, with Mitton, an astronomer and writer, provides an insider's perspective of this first encounter with an alien landscape... Recommended to lovers of cosmology and planetary science, both professional and amateur."--Cosmos "[T]he delight of reading about a mission that has boldly gone where no man has gone ... yet make[s] Titan Unveiled and enticing read."--Ray Bert, Civil Engineering
Book Information
ISBN 9780691146331
Author Ralph Lorenz
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publisher Princeton University Press
Weight(grams) 482g
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
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".
Reviews
"[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 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 "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 "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 "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 "Lorenz provides an intimate account of this unique adventure... 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."--Agustin Chicarro, Physics World "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 "[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 "A fascinating read."--David Tytell, Sky & Telescope "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 "Lorenz was one of the researchers on the Cassini-Huygens mission which first successfully explored beyond the hazy atmosphere (and arguably, most intriguing) moon. In Titan Unveiled, he, with Mitton, an astronomer and writer, provides an insider's perspective of this first encounter with an alien landscape... Recommended to lovers of cosmology and planetary science, both professional and amateur."--Cosmos "[T]he delight of reading about a mission that has boldly gone where no man has gone ... yet make[s] Titan Unveiled and enticing read."--Ray Bert, Civil Engineering
Book Information
ISBN 9780691146331
Author Ralph Lorenz
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publisher Princeton University Press
Weight(grams) 482g
