Editing Titan (moon) (section)

=== Proposed or conceptual missions ===
[[File:Tssm project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The lake lander, balloon and their orbiter proposed for the [[Titan Saturn System Mission]] (artistic rendition)]]

There have been several conceptual missions proposed in recent years for returning a robotic [[space probe]] to Titan. Initial conceptual work has been completed for such missions by NASA (and [[JPL]]), and [[ESA]]. At present, none of these proposals have become funded missions. The [[Titan Saturn System Mission]] (TSSM) was a joint NASA/[[ESA]] proposal for exploration of [[Saturn]]'s moons.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mission Summary: TANDEM/TSSM Titan and Enceladus Mission |publisher=ESA |date=2009 |url=https://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=106 |access-date=January 30, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523081148/https://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=106 |archive-date=May 23, 2011 }}</ref> It envisions a hot-air balloon floating in Titan's atmosphere for six months. It was competing against the [[Europa Jupiter System Mission]] (EJSM) proposal for funding. In February 2009 it was announced that ESA/NASA had given the EJSM mission priority ahead of the TSSM.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rincon |first=Paul |date=February 18, 2009 |title=Jupiter in space agencies' sights |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7897585.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101024015124/https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7897585.stm |archive-date=October 24, 2010 }}</ref> The proposed [[Titan Mare Explorer]] (TiME) was a low-cost lander that would splash down in Ligeia Mare in Titan's northern hemisphere. The probe would float whilst investigating Titan's hydrocarbon cycle, sea chemistry, and Titan's origins.<ref name="talk 2010">{{cite web |url=https://www.kiss.caltech.edu/workshops/titan2010/presentations/aharonson.pdf |title=TiME: Titan Mare Explorer |access-date=August 17, 2011 |last=Stofan |first=Ellen |date=2010 |publisher=Caltech |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330205710/https://www.kiss.caltech.edu/workshops/titan2010/presentations/aharonson.pdf |archive-date=March 30, 2012 }}</ref> It was selected for a Phase-A design study in 2011 as a candidate mission for the 12th NASA [[Discovery Program]] opportunity,<ref>{{cite web |website=NASA Discovery Program |url=https://discovery.msfc.nasa.gov/news/index.cfml?ID=1034 |title=NASA Announces Three New Mission Candidates |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118221519/https://discovery.msfc.nasa.gov/news/index.cfml?ID=1034 |archive-date=November 18, 2016 |date=May 5, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=June 13, 2017 }}</ref> but was not selected for flight.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lets-go-sailing-on-lakes-of-titan-2009-11 |title=Let's go sailing on lakes of Titan! |website=[[Scientific American]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010200010/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lets-go-sailing-on-lakes-of-titan-2009-11 |archive-date=October 10, 2012 |date=November 1, 2009 }}</ref>

Another mission to Titan proposed in early 2012 by Jason Barnes, a scientist at the [[University of Idaho]], is the [[Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance]] (AVIATR): an uncrewed plane (or [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|drone]]) that would fly through Titan's atmosphere and take [[High-definition video|high-definition]] images of the surface of Titan. NASA did not approve the requested $715 million, and the future of the project is uncertain.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.universetoday.com/92286/aviatr-an-airplane-mission-for-titan/ |title=AVIATR: An Airplane Mission for Titan |work=Universetoday.com |date=January 2, 2012 |access-date=February 26, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328084232/https://www.universetoday.com/92286/aviatr-an-airplane-mission-for-titan/ |archive-date=March 28, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/45946425/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/t/soaring-titan-drone-designed-scout-saturns-moon/#.USyd4VF3_qI |title=Soaring on Titan: Drone designed to scout Saturn's moon |work=NBC News |date=January 10, 2012 |access-date=February 26, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413125210/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/45946425/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/t/soaring-titan-drone-designed-scout-saturns-moon/#.USyd4VF3_qI |archive-date=April 13, 2014 }}</ref>

A conceptual design for another lake lander was proposed in late 2012 by the Spanish-based private engineering firm [[SENER]] and the Centro de Astrobiología in [[Madrid]]. The concept probe is called [[Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer]] (TALISE).<ref name="TALISE">{{cite book |chapter=TALISE: Titan Lake In-situ Sampling Propelled Explorer |title=European Planetary Science Congress 2012 |editor-first=I. |editor-last=Urdampilleta |editor2-first=O. |editor2-last=Prieto-Ballesteros |editor3-first=R. |editor3-last=Rebolo |editor4-first=J. |editor4-last=Sancho |publisher=EPSC Abstracts |date=2012 |volume=7, EPSC2012-64 2012 |chapter-url=https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2012/EPSC2012-64.pdf |access-date=October 10, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021021439/http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2012/EPSC2012-64.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2012 }}</ref> The major difference compared to the TiME probe would be that TALISE is envisioned with its own propulsion system and would therefore not be limited to simply drifting on the lake when it splashes down.<ref name="TALISE" />

A [[Discovery Program]] contestant for its mission #13 is [[Journey to Enceladus and Titan]] (JET), an [[astrobiology]] Saturn orbiter that would assess the [[Planetary habitability|habitability potential]] of Enceladus and Titan.<ref name="Sotin2011">{{cite conference |last1=Sotin |first1=C. |last2=Altwegg |first2=K.|author2-link=Kathrin Altwegg |last3=Brown |first3=R. H. |display-authors=etal |title=JET: Journey to Enceladus and Titan |url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/1326.pdf |conference=42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference |publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute |date=2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415113634/https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/1326.pdf |archive-date=April 15, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="LCPM-2013">{{cite conference |last1=Matousek |first1=Steve |last2=Sotin |first2=Christophe |last3=Goebel |first3=Dan |last4=Lang |first4=Jared |title=JET: Journey to Enceladus and Titan |url=https://lcpm10.caltech.edu/pdf/session-5/3_JET-LCPM-130618-Matousek-final.pdf |conference=Low Cost Planetary Missions Conference |publisher=California Institute of Technology |date=June 18–21, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072017/https://lcpm10.caltech.edu/pdf/session-5/3_JET-LCPM-130618-Matousek-final.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=April 10, 2015 }}</ref>

In 2015, the [[NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts]] program (NIAC) awarded a Phase II grant<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/content/titan-submarine-exploring-the-depths-of-kraken/ |title=Titan Submarine: Exploring the Depths of Kraken |first=Loura |last=Hall |date=May 30, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150730000928/https://www.nasa.gov/content/titan-submarine-exploring-the-depths-of-kraken/ |archive-date=July 30, 2015 }}</ref> to a design study of a [[Titan Submarine]] to explore the seas of Titan.<ref name="NASA-20150701">{{cite news |last1=Oleson |first1=Steven R. |last2=Lorenz |first2=Ralph D. |last3=Paul |first3=Michael V. |title=Phase I Final Report: Titan Submarine |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20150014581 |date=July 1, 2015 |work=[[NASA]] |access-date=February 21, 2021 |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724054637/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20150014581 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Lorenz, R. D.; Oleson, S.; Woytach, J.; Jones, R.; Colozza, A.; Schmitz, P.; Landis, G.; Paul, M.; and Walsh, J. (March 16–20, 2015). "Titan Submarine: Vehicle Design and Operations Concept for the Exploration of the Hydrocarbon Seas of Saturn's Giant Moon", ''46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference'', The Woodlands, Texas. LPI Contribution No. 1832, p.1259</ref><ref>Hartwig, J., ''et al.'', (June 24–26, 2015). "Titan Submarine: Exploring the Depths of Kraken Mare", 26th Space Cryogenics Workshop, Phoenix, Arizona. [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150023076 link to NASA Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123225350/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150023076 |date=November 23, 2020 }}. Retrieved June 13, 2017.</ref>