Space engineers plan sailing on Titan, Jupiter's largest moon

11:50 PM Sun 15 May 2011 GMT

'Ligeia Mare project - it doesn&rsquo;t look much like a sailing boat' .

Sailing - the ability to move along impelled by the natural force of the wind - is figuring largely in space exploration as scientists search for ways of using the forces found in the universe. Japan's sailing vessel Ikaros is on its way to Venus propelled by solar wind (photons), and now space engineers are planning their first extra-terrestrial yacht, destined to sail on the Ligeia Sea (Ligeia Mare), a sea of methane and ethane on the surface of Titan, Jupiter's largest moon. The robot ship, which admittedly doesn't look much like a sailing boat, would sail around this sea ...

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by The Guardian/Sail-World Cruising