20 May 2019
A thin layer of ice-trapped gas stops Pluto's oceans from freezing
...Clathrates have been found to occur naturally in large quantities and on Earth, around 6.4 trillion tonnes of methane is trapped in deposits of methane clathrate on the deep ocean floor. However, this is the frigid environment of Pluto we are talking...
October 2015
From the kitchen… to the stars?
...cheap liquefied natural gas (LNG) that has a methane content of 90-98%. Together with liquid oxygen, this ...LOX + LNG fuel. They lasted from 17 to 60 seconds, with the methane content of LNG ranging from 89.3 to 99.5%. Overall, the results of these ...
October 2017
Cassini observations open up Saturn’s atmosphere
...compounds that are also commonly found in the solar system: methane, water, ammonia, and hydrogen sulphide. Some of these ... the planet’s atmosphere. Solar ultraviolet light can split methane apart, initiating a chain of chemical reactions that leads...
14 April 2016
All systems go as ExoMars sends back its first image
... by the TGO, as it could mean one of two things – geological activity or biological processes on the planet. However, detecting methane alone is not enough to distinguish between these processes, but with addition of the Surface Science Platform and...
14 April 2017
Cassini finds evidence for hydrothermal vent activity on Enceladus
... in the plume is water, about 1 percent is hydrogen and the rest is a mixture of other molecules including carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia. And although Cassini has not yet shown that phosphorus and sulphur are present...
31 July 2017
Complex chemistry on Titan may form membranes
...lakes and rivers or freezing as snow, on Titan it is methane. This toxic environment coupled with its distance from the Sun, has...are present in Titan’s atmosphere. Eventually, the Moon’s methane cycle will mean that the vinyl cyanide condenses and is ...
