Every challenge that would occur if humans tried to land on Saturn

June 2, 2020 11:00 PM

In 2017, NASA’s Cassini probe sent us our closest view of Saturn to date. If you wanted to take a closer look at the ringed planet, you would have to travel 1.2 billion kilometers... but the long journey would be the least of your worries. Once there, you'd realize there’s no solid surface to land on and descend through dangerous electrical currents, deadly winds, and unthinkable pressure. If you could somehow make it through all of that, then a blistering hot core made of iron and nickel awaits you at the planet’s center—along with a surprise, as scientists have yet to discover whether Saturn’s core is liquid or solid. So maybe it’s best we leave Saturn exploration to uncrewed probes after all.