Titan

Titan (also known as Sol 7.6 or Saturn IV) is the sixth major moon of the planet Saturn, and the second largest natural satellite of the Sol System. It is the only major moon of the Sol System to have a large atmosphere, and the only celestial body other then Earth to have had held natural surface liquid before human intervention.

Titan is one of the few bodies within the Solar System to hold natural, complex multicellular life, mostly located within its multitude of liquid methane lakes, however life has been discovered on both its surface, and within its subsurface water oceans.

Today, Titan stands as one of the most populace celestial bodies within the entirety of the Sol System, holding the fourth largest population behind the moons of Euorpa and Luna, as well as the planets of Mars and Earth.

It is considered by most nations to be the most valuable object in the Sol System asides from planet Earth. Around fifteen sperate nations hold control over territory on Titan, with the most major being the United States of America, United Republic of Asian Peoples, the European Union, Russia, India, Japan, and the Empire of New Mediterania, among others.

Overview

Titan has held a long and diverse history throughout the centuries after humans first step foot on the world, as it serves as one of the most important worlds within the whole of the Solar System due to the massive amount of liquid methane and ethane located upon its surface, making the moon both the fueling point, and launching point of spacecraft going towards the outer Solar System and beyond. Titan is the economical capital of the Saturian System due to the massive fuel plantations located throughout the moon's surface, and as a result, it is home to the "Free Merchants Guild of Wider Saturnalia," an organization formed to ensure certain protections to businesses and corporations founded within the Saturian System from taxes or levies inflicted by larger corporations or governmental organizations.

Discovered by astronomer Christian Huygens on March 25th, 1655, humanity has held interest in the strange world ever since its discovery. The first space craft to be set to the moon was the Pioneer 11 probe on September 1st, 1979, giving 20th century humanity an up close glimpse of the shrouded world. However due to the primitive tech used on said spacecraft, it would take another two years until' more sophisticated instruments could be used to give a better look behind the cloud tops, with the arrival of the Voyager I and Voyager II space crafts from 1980 to 1981. Using spectrometers they were able to pierce through the thick atmosphere and map out sections of the moon's surface. With the information gathered, it was believed by scientists at the time that possible surface liquid of methane was located in areas of Titan, however these were not proven to exist until' the Cassini-Huygens mission on July 4th 2004, with the discovery of liquid methane seas on the moon's northern and southern poles, along with the Huygens probe being the first manmade object to touch down on the surface of Titan.

The first human to set foot on Titan would be American astronaut Travis Marigold on August 2nd 2072, with the arrival of Cronos-V mission, who touched down on the shore line of the Ligeia Mare sea, 79°N 248°W. Travis in particular was selected due to his great appreciation of the moon throughout his carrier. He and his fellow astronauts would remain on the moon's surface for a total of five standard months, before being rotated out and sent back to Earth aboard the Cronos-V space craft in suspended animation. Travis Marigold would make repeated trips to Titan throughout the remainder of his life, until' his death on August 2nd 2120, the forty-eighth anniversary of the Cronos-V mission. His body would be buried on the exact position he step foot on, with a large memorial being built in honor of the first Titanterrian being built around his gravesite.

Apart from Earth, Titan is the gem of any nations eye from within the Solar System, due to its optimal position to send missions to the outer Sol System and beyond, and more perinatally, its almost endless amount of usable fuel in the form of the liquid methane and ethane on its surface. The nation who as of 2500 holds the largest amount of territory on the moon is the United States of America, holding control over thirty-two percent of the entire moon's surface, separated into fifteen states. Other large super powers, such as the United Republic of Asian Peoples and the Empire of New Mediterania hold over large portions of the moon's surface, as well as numerous independent nations founded on Titan proper.

Geography

Surface Features

Titan's surface mainly comprises of ice encrusted rock and dust, with many diverse geological features, including canyons, dunes, craters, dried lake beds and occasional hills, slopes, and even mountains. It's dynamic geography is one of the defining features of the moon when comparing to other moons of the Sol System, as it is more akin to a planet then your typical moon, sharing many similarities to surface features found on Mars and even Earth.