A special unmanned aircraft similar to the drones used by CIA in Pakistan and Afghanistan has been built to fly over Saturn's largest moon Titan and help scientists build up a picture of the planet's geology.
The USD 715-million Aviatr probe, which weighs just 120kg, has been designed to take 3D photos of the surface of Titan that has fascinated scientists because of its thick, cloudy atmosphere.
At the end of the mission, plutonium-powered craft would dive down to surface and attempt a landing on Titan's dunes,
The moon is thickly shrouded in clouds,
Titan is bigger than the Earth's Moon and even the planet Mercury. The temperature at Titan's surface is about -178 degrees centigrade.
The Aviatr, designed by a team of scientists led by Jason Barnes at University of Idaho, would be much nimbler than a balloon and would use its plutonium-powered generator to stay on the "day" side of Titan to make the most of its photographing time.
