On Saturn's moon Titan can live a huge colony of people

When it comes to the colonization of space, everyone immediately remembers about Mars. However, it seems that Saturn's satellite Titan can also be a good choice.

It was to such conclusions that scientists came in the course of a new study, the results of which appeared in the Journal of Astrobiology. Titan can have enough energy reserves to survive on a colony with a population of about 300 million people (that is, a country as large as the US).

Why Titanium?

"Satellite Saturn Titan is the optimal place in the solar system for the establishment of an extraterrestrial settlement", - write in their article the researchers Amanda Hendrix from the Planetary Scientific Institute in Arizona and Yuk Jung from California.

Titan is similar to Earth and has a dense atmosphere that is able to protect a person from destructive radiation, unlike any other body with a solid surface in the solar system.

In their work, researchers point to a number of different sources of energy that could ensure the survival of the colony of people. These include nuclear, chemical, solar, hydropower and wind energy.

The possibilities of using nuclear energy

These assumptions seem realistic, since nuclear energy, for example, is already used to support the operation of deep-sea probes (in particular, plutonium-238). It can prove to be a viable source of energy for the colony on Titan, given that its half-life is 88 years. Methane, which is abundant in Titan (where there are lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons), can also be incredibly useful for future colonizers.

Hydropower engineering on Titan

These lakes and seas can be used for the needs of hydropower. Although the other day scientists have told that the height of the waves on Titan reaches only 1 centimeter, the researchers say that creating a system to accelerate the flow of liquid will help to provide a reasonable amount of energy.

Use of wind power

Getting the most out of the wind will only be possible if the power plants are built at altitude. The speed of wind on the surface of Titan is minimal, but at an altitude of 40 kilometers it reaches 20 meters per second. "Tied balloons or windmills at a similar wind speed will allow Titan colonizers to get hundreds of megawatts of energy," the researchers write.

Energy of sun

But, perhaps, the most intriguing is solar energy. Despite the fact that Titan is located 10 times farther from the Sun than Earth, scientists note that progress in the development of solar cells will make this type of energy an even more viable option. To maintain a colony with a population of 300 million people, 10 percent of the surface of Titan will have to be covered with solar panels. On Earth, the same amount of energy can be obtained from a solar power plant, the size of which is 10 percent of the territory of Kansas.

"Natural resources of Titan provide several options for the development of useful energy sources for future colonists," the researchers conclude. Maybe one day the colonization of Titan will become a reality and we will really live in this distant world.