588623 external_news 1489416615 1489417925 Next month, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make its 126th and final pass around Saturn's large moon Titan, leaving scientists with a rich picture of a geologically active world with liquid hydrocarbon lakes, complex atmospheric chemistry, and likely even a salty ocean buried beneath its icy crust. But their biggest question will be left unanswered for now: Does Titan, which resembles a primordial Earth, have life?...Titan offers many examples of really interesting organic chemistry experiments with alternative structures, added Georgia Tech planetary scientist Britney Schmidt. "The Titan example is fantastic because you have a sedimentary process like a terrestrial planet, but it's ice involved," she said. "It's organic in nature, but it is not necessarily biogenic." Britney Schmidt is an assistant professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. 

]]> 2017-03-09 1278