title: Titan and the origin of life on Earth.
abstract: The relevance of Titan to the study of pre-biotic chemistry and the origin of life on Earth will be addressed by an interdisciplinary group of Cassini/Huygens scientists using the different, but synergistic data sets obtained by NASA's Cassini Orbiter and ESA's Huygens Probe. Titan's special importance lies in the primitive chemically-reducing nature of its atmosphere Cassini/ Huygens instruments will determine what compounds form in this environment, and the results will be compared with models for pre-biological chemical evolution on Earth.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raulin
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Lunine
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lebreton
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Matson
mesh_terms: D001272:Atmosphere / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D018534:Earth, Planet; D019418:Evolution, Chemical; D007053:Ice; D008697:Methane; D009584:Nitrogen; D000069497:Origin of Life; D018539:Saturn; D018531:Spacecraft; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D007053:Ice; D014867:Water; D009584:Nitrogen; D008697:Methane