Sounds from Titan

Posted by Paul A. Heckert Jan 29, 2008

One of the problems most scientists have with Hollywood science fiction is the sound of space ships swishing by. Hollywood directors always seem to think that space ships should make sounds. Sound in space is however impossible. Space is a vacuum and sound can not propagate through a vacuum. There must be molecules present to vibrate and carry the sound.

The one place that a space craft can make a sound is when traveling through a planetary atmosphere, while either landing or taking off.

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is the only moon in the solar system that has a significant atmosphere. Because Titan has a significant atmosphere, sound can propagate. A space craft landing on Titan would make noise as it lands.

The Cassini mission to Saturn included the unmanned Huygens probe to the surface of Titan. The Huygens probe sent back the first pictures of the surface of Titan. It also sent back information on Titan's atmosphere.

Using microphones attached to the probe it was possible to reconstruct the sound of the Huygens probe flying down to the surface. To hear the recording click here, enjoy the pictures of Titan's surface, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on "sounds of Titan during Huygens descent". The real space craft landing does not sound anything at all like the space ships swishing by in Hollywood movies.