Reply #20: Ethane is extremely volatile.

[sofa king]

Its boiling point is -88 deg. C., and it is combustible at temperatures far below that (if there were any oxygen around for it to react with).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethane

Perhaps more importantly, its melting point is -182 deg. C, while the average temperatures on Titan are fairly close to that, averaging -179 deg. C. I failed out as a chemistry major, but I think that suggests that the lake is pretty close to a phase change point, and that may mean the lake is prone to vaporizing--maybe sublimation? I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, so I'd better let someone who does give a real explanation.

Anyway, at temperatures like that you wind up with something of a problem exploring Titan. Few mechanical components work very well at temperatures that stay that low, and batteries tend to die fast. Solar energy is comparatively weak, so that pretty much leaves a nuclear option for powering and keeping a rover at operating temperature. Therefore the rover itself might be be changing the environment around it as it moves.

However, those sorts of problems are mere challenges to scientists and engineers, and JPL has already floated a concept:

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005AGUFM.P51C0941B