PASADENA, Calif. — At least one of many lakelike features on Saturn’s moon Titan studied by the international Cassini spacecraft contains liquid hydrocarbons, making it the only body in the solar system besides Earth known to have liquid on its surface, NASA said Wednesday.
Scientists identified the presence of liquid ethane, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the Cassini mission.
Cassini has made more than 40 close flybys of Titan. Parts of the craft were designed and built in Colorado by Lockheed Martin. Its imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder.
Meanwhile, analysis of a sample of soil by NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander has provided final confirmation that the lander is sitting over a large chunk of ice.
