Overview
- Published in Nature, the JPL-led study reexamined Cassini radio/Doppler tracking from multiple Titan flybys to quantify the moon’s tidal response.
- A roughly 15-hour delay between Saturn’s peak gravitational pull and Titan’s maximum deformation signals strong internal energy dissipation inconsistent with a freely flowing subsurface ocean.
- The favored model features deep high‑pressure ice and viscous slush with isolated liquid pockets that may reach about 20°C, spanning depths to roughly 550 km with an outer ice shell near 170 km.
- The reinterpretation is contested by some scientists, including Luciano Iess, who say current evidence may not exclude Titan from the family of ocean worlds.
- NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft, targeted to launch in 2028 and arrive in the 2030s, could test these ideas with geophysical measurements such as seismology and refine habitability strategies.